Maharashtra Unani doctors seek parity with Ayurvedic practitioners

Maharashtra's Unani doctors on Thursday staged a demonstration here, demanding that they be treated on a par with their Ayurvedic counterparts, officials said.

Members of the Integrated Medicine Practitioners Association (IMPA) staged a sit-in protest at Azad Maidan, seeking dignity on the lines of Ayurvedic medicos, said IMPA General Secretary Zubair Shaikh, who is also the Vice President of the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM).

"In 2014, a Government Resolution was issued, assuring jobs even to Unani doctors in primary health centres and other places, but it remains unimplemented," Shaikh told IANS.

He said this was injustice to around 9,000 Unani doctors in Maharashtra who are part of the 150,000 Unani practitioners all over India.

The Maharashtra government has announced a medical hub which will come up in Jalgaon, and has decided to set up Ayurvedic, Homoeopathic and Allopathic medical colleges, but there is no mention of a Unani college, he said.

"Unani doctors are not included in the National Health Mission's healthcare initiatives, WHO programmes or immunization campaigns. BUMS (Bachelor of Unani Medical Science) doctors form the backbone of the primary healthcare system, besides serving the poorest of people in far-flung or rural areas," Shaikh added.

He called upon the government and the Ministry of AYUSH to establish a post of Deputy Director for Unani Medicine.

Leaders of several opposition parties including Congress' Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil and Naseem Khan, Nationalist Congress Party's Jitendra Awhad, Samajwadi Party's Abu Asim Azmi met the agitating Unani doctors and expressed support for their demands.

--IANS

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