By Savikalpa Thapa
Outpatient departments across Pune stayed shut on Wednesday as thousands of doctors walked off duty. Close to 10,000 of them joined the statewide strike called in Maharashtra, protesting the government’s move to let homoeopathy graduates, after just a year-long pharmacology course, register with the state medical council and prescribe modern medicine.
The action, led by the Indian Medical Association along with resident doctors’ groups, brought routine consultations and planned procedures to a halt in private hospitals and nursing homes. Emergency rooms, however, continued to function so that patients in critical condition were not left unattended.
Doctors argue that the move to register practitioners with only a one-year Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP) drastically lowers medical standards. They point out that an MBBS degree requires more than five years of rigorous training and a compulsory internship, while the CCMP offers only limited exposure. According to senior physicians, letting homoeopathic graduates prescribe allopathic drugs risks misdiagnosis, incorrect treatments, and worsening problems such as antibiotic resistance.
In Pune, about 200 nursing homes also shut their doors in solidarity. Resident doctors skipped OPD duties, leaving senior consultants to handle emergencies. Many hospitals saw placards and sit-ins as part of the protest. The IMA went as far as to describe the government’s decision as a “murder of merit,” arguing that it puts patient safety at stake and undermines the hard work of qualified medical graduates.
The associations have demanded that the government immediately withdraw the notification. They warned that if their concerns are ignored, the agitation could spread further and include longer strikes. Talks with the Directorate of Medical Education and Research are likely, but so far, doctors say nothing concrete has come out of the discussions. In the meantime, patients bore the brunt of the strike. Many had to wait for hours or go back home with their appointments pushed to another day, a reminder of how quickly a policy fight between the state and the medical community spills over into everyday healthcare.