Doctors stage protests against Centre's policy
New Delhi, Dec 11: Doctors of different hospitals across India on Friday staged protests against the Centres move to allow postgraduate practitioners of Ayurveda to be trained in performing surgical procedures.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded withdrawal of the notification.
Doctors in various hospitals in the city and in Murshidabad, Nadia, Malda, Uttar Dinajpur, North and South 24 Parganas districts wore black bands but carried on normal duties.
Some of them protested by waving placards which had the message 'Protest Day against National Medical Commission' and 'We oppose commercialisation of Medical Science'.
"No to mixture of modern medicine homoeopathy and ayurved,", Kaushik Bhattacharya of Doctors' Forum said.
"We are against the commercialisation of medical education and the nominated members of the National Medical Commission. We want self governance of our elected representatives," he added.
"We did not want the treatment of the patients to be hampered and that is why we did not go for a total strike," Hiralal Konar of the Joint Platform of Doctors said.
IMA West Bengal secretary Santunu Sen, when contacted said, "The government of India started gradually centralizing the entire controlling power since long. They started dissolving the democratically elected bodies like the Medical Council of India and replacing them with hand picked people. Through the National Education Policy they have planned to ruin the Medical Education System.
The Centre, instead of promoting individual age old ancient system of medicine is "simply promoting quackery and mixopathy". "Will they themselves go to an ayurved surgeon for their own surgeries?" Sen asked.
On November 19, the Centre in a notification listed specific surgical procedures that a postgraduate medical student of Ayurveda must be practically trained to acquaint with, as well as to independently perform.
It invited sharp criticism from the IMA who questioned the competence of Ayurveda practitioners to carry out these procedures. It gave a call for withdrawal of non-essential and non-COVID services between 6 am and 6 pm on Friday to protest against the notification.
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NCW chief condemns rape-murder of 4-year-old girl in Pune, calls for swift action
New Delhi (PTI): National Commission for Women (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Rahatkar has condemned the alleged rape and murder of a four-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Pune, calling it "deeply distressing" and a "blot on humanity".
The girl was allegedly raped and killed by a 65-year-old labourer, who has a criminal record, in Bhor tehsil of Pune on Friday. The accused allegedly lured the child to a cattle enclosure on the pretext of giving her food. After raping her, he killed her by hitting her with a stone, according to police.
The accused has been arrested.
In a post on X on Saturday, Rahatkar said the incident in the Nasrapur area in Pune was heartbreaking and has shaken society.
"The brutal torture and murder of a four-year-old innocent girl in Nasrapur (Bhor, Pune) is deeply painful, heartbreaking, and shocking. It is a blot on humanity," she said.
She said Pune Rural police has arrested the accused and noted that Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Sunetra Pawar have assured strict action in the case.
Rahatkar said the NCW has taken cognisance of the matter and written to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), requesting the body to ensure necessary and prompt action.
It has also been recommended that the case be pursued under stringent provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and be closely monitored from the filing of the chargesheet to proceedings in a fast-track special court to ensure time-bound justice, she added.
Ensuring justice for the victim and stringent punishment for the accused is a collective responsibility, the NCW chairperson underlined.
In a post on X, the NCW said it has taken suo motu cognisance of the extremely "heinous" incident.
"This heinous crime causes profound pain and outrage, and it highlights serious concerns regarding the safety of young girls," it said.
Strongly condemning this grave "inhuman act", the NCW said such crimes constitute a serious violation of children's rights and raise questions about society's security system.
