NEW DELHI: Opposing the National Medical Commission Bill, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has called for a 12-hour strike across the country on Tuesday.
Announcing January 2 as a ‘black day’, the association has called for suspending OPD (out patient department) services from 6am to 6pm. Emergency and critical care services will, however, function.
Health services in the national capital may also get hit as the Delhi Medical Association (DMA) has also called for a “total shut down” of for 12 hours in all medical establishments in support of the IMA’s strike.
The National Medical Commission Bill (NMC), tabled in Parliament on Friday, seeks to replace the MCI and proposes allowing practioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a “bridge course”.
The bill is likely to come up for discussion in Parliament on Tuesday. The IMA has opposed the bill saying it will “cripple” medical professionals’ functioning by making them answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators.
“The bill in the present form is not acceptable. It is “anti-poor”, “anti-people” and undemocratic, in character. The IMA headquarters declares closure of all routine services for 12 hours (6am to 6pm) from tomorrow,” IMA national president Dr R. Wankhedkar said.
