Unani doctors hold protest in Mumbai in support of demands
Mumbai, Nov 22: Unani doctors Thursday held a protest here demanding reservation in government jobs in Maharashtra and parity with ayurvedic physicians.
The protest was organised at the Azad Maidan in South Mumbai by the Integrated Medicine Practitioners Association (IMPA).
IMPA General secretary Zubair Shaikh saida 2014 Government Resolution (GR) had assured jobs to Unani doctors in state-run primary health centres (PHCs).
However, the decision has not been implemented yet, he said.
"We only want respect and parity (with ayurvedic doctors). BUMS (Bachelor of Unani Medicine and Surgery) practitioners, too, play a major role in the society," he said.
Shaikh,who is also vice-president of the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM), said 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 Homeopathy (AYUSH) needs to establish a post of deputy director for Unani medicine," he said.
Shaikh said the government has declared a plan to set up a medical hub in Jalgaon, North Maharashtra.
However,the government has not approved a Unani medical college there, though it has announced that ayurvedic, allopathic and homoeopathic colleges will come up at the medical hub.
"For the past four years our pleas have remained unanswered," he said and added that Unani doctors have not been included in the National Health Mission's health and wellness programmes.
"There should be a Unani technical advisor in FDA (food and drug administration) like Ayurvedic technical advisors. Unani graduates also need to be included in ESIS (Employment State Insurance Scheme) panels," he added.
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil of the Congress visited the protest site and expressed support to the agitating Unani doctors.
Speaking to reporters, Vikhe-Patil said if the Congress comes to power in the state, it will immediately implement the GR on jobs to Unani doctors in PHCs.
"This is a biased government and therefore, we cannot expect anything from it. However, the moment we come to power we will implement the GR," he said.
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Congress cites Maniben Patel's diary entries, asks Rajnath to apologise for Babri claim
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise for spreading "falsehoods".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed the defence minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Here is Maniben's original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA R S Patel 'Aaresh', published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.
“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh ji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” Ramesh said.
“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM,” he claimed.
The Congress had earlier termed Singh's claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, and said the defence minister should not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path.
Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat's Vadodara district last Tuesday, Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn't allow his plans to succeed.
The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter to double down on Singh's claims, and said the first prime minister also said he felt "repelled" by some of the temples in south India despite their beauty.
“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel, Diary of Maniben Patel'," BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.
Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.
