Junior doctors at Osmania Medical College oppose ‘pro-private bill’

A massive protest was organized by the Telangana Junior Doctors' Association (TJUDA) on Tuesday at Osmania Medical College (OMC) over the National Medical Commission(NMC) bill.

Calling it a 'pro-private college' bill, the TJUDA said that all the regulations for setting up a medical college would be removed and make medical education highly expensive in India.

The agitation witnessed participation from more than 500 junior doctors and medical students. The bill faced opposition even at Gandhi Medical College, Kakatiya Medical College and other colleges in the state where hundreds of junior doctors organized protests.

The Association said that the fee structure of only 40% of seats at a private medical college can be regulated by the government as per the provisions of the bill while the remaining seats will be allocated to the management to fix the fee structure making it expensive medical education.

The NMC bill, tabled in Lok Sabha by Union health minister JP Nadda on Friday was referred to a parliamentary standing committee on Tuesday following protests across the country.

While the Association stated that no services were hampered in government hospitals due to the protest, the outpatient services were suspended by the doctors working in private and corporate hospitals in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

However, following the bill being referred to a parliamentary standing committee, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) called off the strike and the services resumed after 3 pm.