Ayurveda doctors not entitled to same pay as modern practitioners: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH) doctors with Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) degrees are not entitled to the same pay as doctors holding MBBS degrees. The top court made the observations on Thursday while setting aside a Gujarat High Court order.

The court’s judgment “shall not be understood to mean that one system of medicine is superior to the other,” a bench of Justice V. Ramasubramanian and Justice Pankaj Mithal said.

The top court reasoned, inter-alia, that emergency duties and trauma care provided by doctors with MBBS degrees cannot be performed by Ayurveda doctors.

It observed that while there is a need to promote alternative/indigenous medicine, the court cannot be oblivious to the fact that both categories of doctors are not performing equal work to be entitled to equal pay.

In its January 2014 order, the Gujarat High Court stated that AYUSH doctors should be treated at par with MBBS doctors. It said both MBBS and non-MBBS doctors are part of the same discipline and therefore, no discrimination is permissible on the basis of educational qualifications.