Ahmedabad: A group medico from across the state on Sunday held a ‘pakora protest’ at Ahmedabad district collectorate near Subhash Bridge in the city, against the provision in the draft National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill for a bridge course for AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) doctors to enable them practice allopathy.
The group of around 250 doctors and medical students from allopathy branch fried pakoras symbolically and displayed placards displaying a message, “Pakore ki kamayi aap lo, hame 2 crore rozgaar do” (you keep earnings from pakora selling, give us 2 crore employment). Another message reads, ask an autorickshaw driver to appear in bridge course so that he can fly an aircraft.
Dr Sunil Shah, convener of the protest, said that NMC had introduced the provision in the bill of allowing the homoeopathy and Ayurvedic doctors to practice allopathy at a time when MBBS doctors are compelled to give the exit test after five years of the course to start their practice.
“If they can come up with a magical machine called bridge course then they should give that machine to us, we will manufacture crores of the doctors from the crores of unemployed youths along with the BHMS and BAMS doctors of the country,” said Shah.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/doctors-stage-pakora-protest-against-proposed-bridge-course/articleshow/63359817.cms