Medical edu department halts plan to let homeopaths practise modern medicine after high court stay; The move comes in the wake of a high court stay and mounting opposition from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which termed the order a potential contempt of court
The stay comes in the wake of mounting opposition from the Indian Medical Association. Representation pic/istock
Quashing its own recent decision, the Maharashtra Medical Education Department has stayed its earlier order allowing homeopathy doctors to practise modern medicine after completing a one-year certification course. The move comes in the wake of a high court stay and mounting opposition from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), which termed the order a potential contempt of court.
“We spoke to the principal secretary of the medical education department and other senior officials, and explained how this government resolution, issued earlier this month despite the high court’s stay, would amount to contempt of court,” said Dr Santosh Kadam, president of IMA, Maharashtra.
“The court had clearly stayed the Maharashtra Medical Council’s (MMC) decision to allow homeopathy doctors to treat patients with modern medicine and prescribe allopathic medicines. The MMC had earlier said these doctors must complete a six-month Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP), but that’s simply not enough,” Kadam added.
The stay comes just four days before CCMP-certified homeopathy doctors were set to register. “If this decision had been implemented and these doctors had registered themselves on July 15 as planned, it would have been contempt of court — and also jeopardised the lives of patients,” Kadam warned.
As a corrective step, the medical education department has now formed a seven-member committee to examine the issue and suggest a way forward. “The committee has been asked to submit its report within two months. Until then, all registrations are suspended,” said Kadam.
However, the decision has triggered a sharp backlash from the homeopathy community. The Maharashtra Council of Homeopathy (MCH) slammed the move as unjust and politically motivated. MCH administrator Dr Bahubali Shah issued a stern warning of statewide protests. “If the government only understands the language of strikes, then all 90,000 homeopathy doctors in the state will not hesitate to go on one,” he said.
MCH officials argue that the one-year bridge course — designed to equip homeopaths with basic emergency and allopathic treatment skills — was introduced to address the critical shortage of doctors in rural Maharashtra. “As of December 2024, more than 9160 homeopathy doctors have completed this course and received certification,” Shah said.
He also questioned the department’s reversal: “Were officials asleep when they granted this permission in the first place? If these doctors go on strike, the state’s public healthcare system will collapse. All the medical colleges are controlled either by politicians or bureaucrats with vested interests — that’s why such games are being played. These doctors completed a course designed by the MMC itself. So why are they now being denied permission to practise modern medicine?”
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