Resident doctors stage silent protest, warn of strike on Sept 18

Members of the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (BMC MARD) joined the statewide agitation, warning that the move compromises patient safety and undermines modern medicine

Mumbai: Resident doctors across the state, including those from Cooper, KEM, Nair and Sion hospitals, staged a silent black-ribbon protest on Tuesday against the Maharashtra Medical Council’s (MMC’s) decision to allow homeopathic practitioners with a Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) to register and practise allopathy.

Resident doctors stage silent protest, warn of strike on Sept 18

Members of the Central Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) and Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (BMC MARD) joined the statewide agitation, warning that the move compromises patient safety and undermines modern medicine.

Dr Rohit Meena, president, BMC MARD and Cooper MARD said that the medical services remained unaffected during the silent protest.

“Through this protest, we strongly oppose MMC’s decision to register CCMP-qualified homeopaths under MMC. The decision compromises the integrity of modern medicine and public health,” said Dr Amar Agame, general secretary, BMC Mard, president of KEM MARD.

The agitation is set to intensify with a token strike on September 18, called by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), for which routine outpatient (OP) services and elective surgeries will be suspended across the state, though emergency care will continue.

The Maharashtra Senior Resident Doctors Association (MSRDA), with over 2,000 senior resident doctors, has also announced participation in the agitation against homeopathy doctors practising allopathy, which is expected to significantly disrupt non-emergency care.

“We will continue emergency procedures and the consultant doctors will take our place in surgeries. However, to bridge the gap of doctors in rural areas, the state government cannot allow homeopathic doctors to practice allopathy. We will stay in the hospital premises but will not participate in any non-emergency procedures,” said Dr Abhijit Helge, president of MSRDA.