Over 2.5L doctors from private hospitals to go on strike today

New Delhi: Healthcare services at many private hospitals in the country are likely to be hit on Tuesday as the Indian Medical Association has called for suspending routine services for 12 hours to protest a Bill seeking to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body. The protest will be supported by nearly 2,76,945 doctors from across the country.

The protest may hit services at outpatient departments (OPDs) of many private hospitals, but emergency and critical services will remain open.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill, which was tabled in Parliament on Friday, seeks to replace the MCI and also proposes allowing practitioners of alternative medicines, such as homoeopathy and Ayurveda, practise allopathy after completing a "bridge course".

The Bill is likely to come up for discussion in Parliament on Tuesday.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which has been strongly opposing the NMC bill saying it will "cripple" the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators, has declared Tuesday a "Black Day".

"The NMC Bill in the present form is not acceptable. This Bill is anti-poor, anti-people, non-representative, undemocratic and anti-federal.

"The IMA headquarter at this moment declares closure of all routine services for 12 hours from 6 am to 6 pm Tuesday across the country," newly-appointed IMA national president Dr Ravi Wankhedkar said.

The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) is supporting the IMA's protest and has called upon all private and corporate hospitals in the national capital to keep their OPD services closed.

IMA members also held a meeting with the Union Health Minister J P Nadda and conveyed their concerns over the Bill.