Guj: Physiotherapists march for national council, rule change

Some 800 physiotherapists from across the country on Sunday began a ten-day 254-km march from Dandi in south Gujarat to Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad seeking setting up of a national council for the profession, one of organisers said.

The 'Physio Swaraj March' will trace the route of the historic Dandi March of Gandhiji which began on March 30, 1929, Prof Umashankar Mohanty, the march organising committee chairman said on Sunday.

The march will end at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on September 3, he added.

"800 physiotherapists started the march today. We want an independent physiotherapy council. The other major demand is that issues concerning our profession in the draft Clinical Establishment (Central Government) Third Amendment Rules, 2019, be rectified," Mohanty told PTI.

He said the amended rules can cause the closure of 303 physiotherapy colleges across the country as students there will get a technician's degree rather than Bachelor's and Master's degrees in physiotherapy.

"The amended rules can render 67,000 physiotherapists jobless. Unfortunately the government is not listening to us and so we have had to resort to this form of protest," Mohanty said.

"Why is the government bent on calling us technicians rather than understanding our importance in the medical field," he asked.

He said the move is to press for the establishment of a statutory council for their profession on the lines of the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India and Nursing Council of India.

Dr Ali irani, a former physiotherapist for the Indian cricket team, told PTI that the setting up of a such a council is absolutely vital for the wellbeing and advancement of the profession.