By Rashme Sehgal
Dehradun, 13 Apr: Why has the government of Uttarakhand taken the unprecedented decision to revoke the licences of around 450 Ayush doctors, the majority of whom hold degrees of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery or else hold Bachelor of Unani and Surgery degrees?
The state is already facing an unprecedented shortage of trained doctors especially in the hill areas where allopathic doctors have refused to set up practice. It was primarily for this reason that, in 2021, the then chief minister Tirath Singh Rawat allowed ayurvedic doctors who were practicing in these regions, to prescribe allopathic medicines.
The wheel seems to have come full circle with a question mark being raised regarding the degrees of these ayurveda doctors, many of whom, the Medical Council of India, Uttarakhand, believes had gained their degrees from other states. There are presently 800 registered ayurveda doctors in Uttarakhand, the majority of whom are practicing in the hilly regions of the state.
The Dehradun based ayurveda Doctor, Akhilesh Bhatnagar, is horrified at this development. `Most of these doctors have been practising for ten to fifteen years. Before any doctor is registered to start his practice, all his degrees are thoroughly scanned by the Medical Council of India, Uttarakhand. Earlier the registration fee was Rs 2000, now it has been raised to Rs 7000. Obviously, the state government hopes to make some money out of this entire exercise,’ said Bhatnagar.
Senior sources in the Ministry of Ayush in Uttarakhand point out that the Central Council of Indian Medicine had found their degrees to be invalid because they had been acquired in UP and other states.
But leading ayurveda practitioner Dr Kaushal asked, `Registration was given only after due scrutiny of documents took place. Also, many of these doctors started their practice before the formation of the state of Uttarakhand, so how can such a decision be taken at this late hour.’
The whole issue of registration is complex because, in 2019, the Medical Council of India, Uttarakhand, started registering new diploma holders under the Uttaranchal Adaptation and Modification Order 2002. However, the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) deemed these registrations invalid, stating that they went against central rules.
But the ayurvedic fraternity in Uttarakhand believe that they are governed by state and not central rules as is the practice across other states in the country. As per the Karnataka Ayurveda and Unani Practitioners’ Act, 1961, all those doctors who are registered and have got their degrees from recognised universities permits them to practice across India.
These ayurvedic doctors believe the decision is that of Dr JN Nautiyal, who Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has reappointed as President of the Indian Medical Council of Uttarakhand.
Already there is some controversy regarding the status of ayurveda doctors, the Supreme Court had recently reiterated that Ayurvedic doctors cannot seek parity of salary with MBBS doctors. This decision was made while dismissing a special leave petition, emphasising the qualitative differences in academic qualifications and the standard of respective degree courses. The court noted that AYUSH doctors cannot be considered performing equal work to be entitled to equal salary.
Although Ayurveda and allopathic medicine are distinct systems, neither is universally superior. Ayurveda focuses on holistic healing and addressing the root cause of ailments, while allopathy emphasises quick symptom relief and advanced diagnostics. The effectiveness of each depends on the individual’s health condition, preferences, and the nature of his illness.
But today, allopathic concepts are also being only taught in ayurveda colleges where trainee doctors are also being taught to intern in different departments as well as to handle certain equipment and different procedures such as giving anaesthesia.
The Supreme Court recently ruled against AYUSH practitioners, including Ayurvedic doctors, prescribing allopathic medicines, unless authorised by specific state regulations. But some state governments have issued notifications allowing AYUSH practitioners to prescribe allopathic medicines under certain conditions.
But whatever these technical details may be, another Dehradun based ayurveda doctor on condition of anonymity said, ` Have you ever heard of half the work force of doctors losing their registration overnight? And we are now receiving feelers from some government functionaries who are informing us that if we pay up an X amount of money, they will ensure they will get our registration done for us. Is this some kind of extortion racket going on?’
For those living in the mountainous areas, being deprived of the services of a doctor has made their life even more difficult as they have to travel down to Rishikesh and Haridwar in order to get their treatment done.
