Unani doctors on warpath over long pending demands

The Unani doctors are up in arms against the government over their long pending demands including treating them at par with Ayurveda doctors.

Coinciding with the winter session of the Maharashtra legislature, the Unani doctors under the banner of Integrated Medicine Practitioners Association (IMPA) on Thursday staged a day-long dharna at the historic Azad Maidan in Mumbai.

"We want nothing, just respect and parity... the BUMS practitioners too play a major role in society," said Dr Zubair Shaikh, general secretary, IMPA while requesting Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to look into the issue.

He said that a 2014 GR has assured jobs to Unani doctors in primary health centres, however, it has not been implemented.

Dr Shaikh, who is also the vice president of Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) said that in India there are 1.5 lakh Unani doctors of which around 9,000 are from Maharashtra.

The Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) need to establish a post of deputy director for Unani medicine.

Dr Shaikh pointed out that the government has declared Jalgaon, a medical hub. However, despite announcing Ayurvedic, Allopathic and Homeopathic colleges they have failed to incorporate a Unani medical college there. "For the past 4 years our pleas remained unanswered," he noted.

He also said that Unani doctors have not been included in the National Health Mission's health and wellness programmes. "BUMS doctors form the backbone of the primary health care system," he said, adding that they serve people living in abject poverty.They also take part in immunization and other WHO programmes.

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