Notice to Centre, Haryana for allowing medicine prescription rights to alternate practitioners

Taking up a petition challenging Haryana government’s decision to give prescription rights to non-MBBS practitioners – Ayurvedic and Unani – for modern allopathic medicines, Punjab and Haryana high courtissued notice to Centre and the state government.

The petitioner has challenged Punjab Ayurvedic and Unani Practitioners (Haryana Amendment) Act, 2014, passed by Haryana government in March, allowing Ayurvedic and Unani practitioners to practice modern medicine, including minor surgeries. Counsel for the petitioner prayed that the word “modern medicine” should be quashed from the said Act because an Ayurvedic and Unani practitioners were not qualified to prescribe such medicines.

It was also argued that prescription of modern medicine is governed by the Indian medical council act, which was enacted by the Parliament several decades ago, and the Haryana government’s bill passed in March cannot overrule the central Act. According to the petitioner, only MBBS doctors can prescribe modern medicines as per the medical council Act.

Haryana government’s move to allow Unani and Ayurvedic practitioners has been criticized by IMA for a long time on the grounds that there was no point in providing them backdoor entry into modern medicine. According to IMA, instead of allowing all AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) practitioners to practiced modern medicine, the government should close all undergraduate AYUSH colleges and start MBBS courses in these using the infrastructure.

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