Postgraduate students from government-aided ayurvedic colleges across the state have for the last two weeks been demanding that they should be paid a stipend.
‘Government has been hypocritical in promoting ayurvedic medicine’
MUMBAI: Postgraduate students from government-aided ayurvedic colleges across the state have for the last two weeks been demanding that they should be paid a stipend. “If MBBS students are entitled to a stipend, why not us?” questioned Dr Reema Patil, president, Maharashtra Ayurvedic Student Association (MASA).
Principal secretary of medical education Amitabh Chandra said that the government was looking into their demands. “We have to look into the financial implications and then decide,” he said.
Their demands also include better job opportunities for the 3,500-odd Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) graduates passing out every year. Students believe that the government has been hypocritical in its approach towards promoting ayurvedic medicine.
A government resolution of 1981 states that BAMS degree is equivalent to MBBS, “however, not a single BAMS doctor finds any place in government projects,” said Patil.
A postgraduate student said that ayurveda students can balance the dwindling doctor-patient ratio in the state. “In rural areas, most people are treated by quacks, but the government still does not consider employing us,” he said.
Dr Pradeep Jadhav of Tilak Ayurveda College, Pune said that ayurvedic students from government-aided colleges are not entitled to any research grants. “Students studying ayurveda mostly belong to middle and lower middle class families, hence cannot afford to spend on their own,” he said.
However, the National Rural Health Mission has sought the services of ayurvedic doctors as MBBS doctors are unwilling to practice in rural areas. “We have recruited 2,000 ayurvedic and unani practitioners to rural areas,” said Madhukar S Chaudhari, mission director of Maharashtra Rural Health Mission.
Interestingly, the mushrooming of private ayurvedic colleges is a good indication that there is a demand for it. Of 56 ayurvedic colleges in the state, 40 are owned by private institutions and only four by the government.
Due to lack of job opportunities in India many ayurvedic practinoners have started practicing abroad.
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