Kin of deceased Nashik docs to benefit under MMA scheme

The Maharashtra Medical Council has decided to give benefits of the 'Care with Concern' scheme to the families of four doctors who died in an accident last week. The deceased doctors from Nashik are the first ones to be covered by this scheme, the first state council in the country to take such an initiative. Their families will get Rs 3 lakh each.

Five doctors were killed on the spot when the vehicle they were travelling in rammed into a bus on the Mumbai-Agra highway (NH 3) at Kokangaon phata near Pimpalgaon Baswant in Nashik around 2am last Monday. They were travelling back to Pimpalgaon Baswant from Nashik after attending a medical conference.

The four doctors who will be covered under the scheme are Dr Chandrashekhar Gangurde (45), Dr Pratap Shelke (46), Dr Sooraj Patil (40) and Dr Kundan Jadhav (34). The fifth doctor cannot be covered as he was not registered with the council.

MMC is a statutory body having powers to suspend a doctor's license if s/he is found guilty of malpractice. Only those doctors registered with the MMC can practice in Maharashtra. Over 80,000 doctors are registered with the MMC.

"Ours is the only council in the country with such a scheme. We don't charge anything from our members. The scheme is only for doctors who are registered with MMC. Of course, the amount is not big enough but through this scheme we assure our members that we stand by them at a time of crisis. We appeal to local branches of Indian Medical Association and NGOs who work for doctors to come forward and put money in such funds," said Dr Kishore Taori, president, MMC.

"This is a welcome move. We are also talking to IMA officials and trying to take this initiative forward. At the same time, we are also talking to some NGOs who are working in the health sector to build up a corpus fund for such cause," said Dr Anil Pachnekar, dean (academic), IMA.