GUWAHATI, Nov 4 � Despite the official recognition to homoeopathy as an important branch of medical treatment, it has of late been getting a raw deal from the State Government, raising serious questions over the survival of this time-tested practice.
In the latest instance, the State Government�s move to merge the three existing homoeopathic colleges into one is being viewed by different quarters, including the homoeopathy fraternity, as going against the interests of the profession.
�The State Government�s diminishing goodwill to homoeopathy should be evident from the reduction effected in the number of seats in a college to 25 from the Centrally-mandated 50 seats. Worse, it has now decided to combine the three colleges into one under the pretext of lack of sufficient students. This will damage long-term interests of homoeopathy,� the All Assam Homoeopathic Doctors� Association said.
The association also questioned the role of the Directorate of AYUSH in this regard, saying that rather than promoting the cause of homoeopathy as an important branch of medical science, it seemed to be pursuing an agenda to the contrary. An in-charge director has been running the directorate for the last six months, and significantly, the Government�s approval for allowing a joint director as deputy director (homoeopathy) has not yet been implemented, it said.
Stating that homoeopathy has the largest number of followers (in terms of number of people taking treatment) after allopathy, the association said that there had been a sustained propaganda against homoeopathy.
�Let the Government come up with data on the number the homoeo clinics in the State together with the number of people benefitting from it. This will show whether or not people have goodwill towards homoeopathy,� it said.
The association lamented that of the 50 homoeopaths initially appointed by the State Government under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) were placed in health sub-centres instead of in the primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs). �This was discriminatory, and the sub-centres hardly have any facilities for doctors,� it added.
The State Government has not created a single post for regular homoeopathic doctors since 1995. Besides, despite the latest Assam Pay Commission recommendations, the salary structure for the homoeopaths has remained well below that of their ayurvedic and allopathic counterparts.
The Government of India had officially recognized homoeopathy besides ayurvedic, yoga and naturopathy, unani and siddha as forms of medical treatment in 1973. The State Government had also accorded official approval to homoeopathy through legislation in 155.
The three homoeopathic colleges in the State were set up since 1968, producing a number of qualified homoeopathic practitioners over the decades. The colleges were provincialized since 1988.
GUWAHATI, Nov 4 � Despite the official recognition to homoeopathy as an important branch of medical treatment, it has of late been getting a raw deal from the State Government, raising serious questions over the survival of this time-tested practice.
In the latest instance, the State Government�s move to merge the three existing homoeopathic colleges into one is being viewed by different quarters, including the homoeopathy fraternity, as going against the interests of the profession.
�The State Government�s diminishing goodwill to homoeopathy should be evident from the reduction effected in the number of seats in a college to 25 from the Centrally-mandated 50 seats. Worse, it has now decided to combine the three colleges into one under the pretext of lack of sufficient students. This will damage long-term interests of homoeopathy,� the All Assam Homoeopathic Doctors� Association said.
The association also questioned the role of the Directorate of AYUSH in this regard, saying that rather than promoting the cause of homoeopathy as an important branch of medical science, it seemed to be pursuing an agenda to the contrary. An in-charge director has been running the directorate for the last six months, and significantly, the Government�s approval for allowing a joint director as deputy director (homoeopathy) has not yet been implemented, it said.
Stating that homoeopathy has the largest number of followers (in terms of number of people taking treatment) after allopathy, the association said that there had been a sustained propaganda against homoeopathy.
�Let the Government come up with data on the number the homoeo clinics in the State together with the number of people benefitting from it. This will show whether or not people have goodwill towards homoeopathy,� it said.
The association lamented that of the 50 homoeopaths initially appointed by the State Government under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) were placed in health sub-centres instead of in the primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs). �This was discriminatory, and the sub-centres hardly have any facilities for doctors,� it added.
The State Government has not created a single post for regular homoeopathic doctors since 1995. Besides, despite the latest Assam Pay Commission recommendations, the salary structure for the homoeopaths has remained well below that of their ayurvedic and allopathic counterparts.
The Government of India had officially recognized homoeopathy besides ayurvedic, yoga and naturopathy, unani and siddha as forms of medical treatment in 1973. The State Government had also accorded official approval to homoeopathy through legislation in 155.
The three homoeopathic colleges in the State were set up since 1968, producing a number of qualified homoeopathic practitioners over the decades. The colleges were provincialized since 1988.
