Approximately 10,000 doctors in the city and 2.5 lakh across the country will not open their private clinics and nursing establishments on June 25, to register their protest against the National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH) Bill, 2011 and Clinical Establishments Act, 2010 proposed by the health ministry.
The Centre had directed all state governments to ensure that the new law is implemented duly in their respective states, with immediate effect. Accord-ing to Indian Medical Association, Maharashtra (IMA), the body that has called the strike, the new law seeks infrastructural changes that are highly impractical given the circumstances in India.
“The Clinical Establish-ment Act was passed by Gulam Nabi Azad in exactly four minutes (to be specific) without consulting any of the medical associations,” Dr Shivku-mar Utture, financial secretary, IMA claimed.
The doctors will hold two meetings at two different locations in the city on Monday. At 11 am, doctors will meet at the IMA building in Haji Ali, where senior doctors like Dr A.B. Mehta and Dr Gopinath Senoy will address the congregation. Later, a similar meeting will take place at the Juhu IMA office. “What the Centre fails to understand is that it’s just not the doctors who will be at the receiving end, but the patients too. To meet the criteria of the new Act we will need certain infrastructure, the cost of which will ultimately be borne by the patients.”
Public hospitals will however run as usual. Dean of JJ group of hospitals Dr T.P. Lahane, said, “We have nothing to do with the IMA strike.” Doctors of public hospitals will however, observe the day as “black day”.