Mangaluru: Private Doctors staged a protest on the premises of IMA and submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner as part of their support the nationwide strike called by Indian Medical Association to protest against the Central Government’s National Medical Commission Bill.

Private Doctors under the aegis of the IMA Mangaluru chapter staged a symbolic protest on the IMA premises against the central government's NMC bill and submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister through the Deputy Commissioner.

“The bill, which the Central Government intends to pass on the recommendations of the National Medical Commission, is unconstitutional. The bill is dangerous for the public interest and to India's medical field. Besides, appropriate representation to states has not been provided in the bill,” the memorandum read.

The Lok Sabha Standing Committee was instructed to consider the negative aspects of the bill that was presented in 2017. Following which, the Committee had suggested 24 changes after consulting several experts. Of these, one suggestion was completely adopted, and three were considered partially. The rest have been dropped.

The association has mentioned many points in the memorandum including the committee’s suggestion that the 9 of 29 members of the Commission should be elected representatives of the medical fraternity was not considered in the bill. The suggestion that the NMC autonomous boards should have elected members was also not considered. The state medical councils were not provided autonomy. Many such points have been mentioned in the memorandum and also asked the PM to consider these factors and take appropriate action.

A Doctors' delegation led by IMA Mangaluru unit President Dr. K Ramachandra Kamath submitted the memorandum to the repetitive of Deputy Commissioner.

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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.

Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.

Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.

An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.

The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.

A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.

Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."

"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.

"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.

A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.