MUMBAI: A government resolution (GR) on Monday paved the way for homeopaths to be registered, enabling them to prescribe modern medicines. The GR had directed MMC to begin registering homeopaths who had completed a one-year certificate course.However, not a single registration had been approved through the day and the first registration was done by 8.30pm. Soon after the GR, IMA’s call for a strike on Tuesday had received a lukewarm response throughout the city, with most clinics and OPD services functioning as usual.The GR has formed a committee to set-up a grievance mechanism in case of negligence by homeopath, but until then, there is no framework to deal with such cases.Dr Shivkumar Utture, an IMA member and past MMC president, said that the move will have life-threatening consequences for the common people. The call for a first strike was issued late Monday, but many doctors were unaware of it.On Tuesday afternoon, Dheeraj Kumar, secretary of medical education, invited the IMA for further discussions.Dr Utture said the association was asked to keep emergency services functioning.“We were clear that this is our last option, to be used only if the MMC proceeds with registrations,” he said. The strike would also be extended to the Association of Medical Consultants (AMC), which includes specialty doctors.The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has also given a call for a strike, with 12,000 doctors set to boycott emergency services starting Thursday and OPD services from Wednesday.The move would impact government hospitals across the state. Moreover, over 2,000 resident doctors from four BMC-run medical colleges have also announced a strike on OPD services for Wednesday, and a further course of action will be decided based on developments of the day.Currently, 2,500 applications from homeopaths have been pending since last year. About 10,000 more have completed the one-year certificate course in pharmacology, which serves as the basis for granting these registrations.Speaking to the press as part of a debate at the Mumbai Press Club, Bahubali Shah, administrator of the homeopathic council, said there is no telling if the final order would be passed, as the case has been ongoing for the last 12 years.On the other hand, Dr Jayesh Lele, who was representing the IMA, said the rush to allow registrations before the final order is to fill up seats in private homeopathic colleges, many of which have political links.
