Hyderabad: The Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) called off its indefinite strike and decided to resume duties from Saturday, as the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill has got assent from President and the Gazette was released.
The T-JUDA plans to fight a legal battle, conduct regular protests and hold public awareness campaigns against the NMC Act, and if necessary call for an indefinite strike before the start of the winter session of Parliament.
The doctors are against a provision that allows cimmunity health workers to practice medicine after a period of training. They say the Act plays into the hands of private colleges.
Another contention is that states lose representation on the National Medical Commission.
T-JUDA members condemned the statements of Union health minister Dr Harsha Vardhan that doctors were a scarce resource. The doctor to patient ratio is 1:1462, hence the requirement of mid-level workers called community health providers (CHP).
The T-JUDA questioned Section 32 pertaining to CHPs and demanded that the Act be sent back to the Parliamentary Standing Committee for suggestions/recommendations. They raised objections to the inclusion of a bridge course and fee regulation in the NMC Act.
T-JUDA chairman P.S. Vijayender said, “No proper guidelines for conducting NEXT were mentioned and this is causing apprehensions among undergraduate students. The continuation of Neet PG which is a transparent exam is the only solution to this.”
