STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: To check the menace of fake doctors, the Joint Director of Health Services of every district is verifying the medical degrees of doctors who are practicing in clinics and hospitals. As per a direction of the Gauhati High Court, the Joint Director of Health Services of every district will have to submit the report by June 15.
The menace of fake doctors or quacks is posing a serious threat to society. Many incidents have come to light in remote and rural areas of the State, and in tea gardens where people were practicing as doctors without having any medical qualification. These quacks mislead gullible people and claim to provide treatment for all sorts of ailments– even cancer and AIDS. Quacks not only play with the health of people, but in some cases also promote superstitious beliefs.
Recently, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in Gauhati High Court seeking the court’s intervention in checking the menace of fake doctors and quacks in Assam. The PIL had been filed by a Guwahati-based doctor, Dr Abhijit Neog, to bring to the notice of the court “the serious risk to the life and limb of the residents of the state that is being caused by a large number of fraudulent persons who are practicing as doctors without the requisite and recognized qualifications and without being registered under the Assam Medical Council / Indian Medical Registry or the State and Central Register of NCISM (National Council of Indian System of Medicine) as required under Section 34 of the NCISM Act, 2020”.
The petitioners suggested some steps that could be taken by the authorities which in turn could help in eradicating the threat of fake doctors like formation of an Anti-Quackery Unit in Assam; a dedicated Help Line phone number accessible to all and widely publicized where people can report doubtful persons masquerading as doctors; creation of an online database of doctors practicing within the state which is accessible to the public at large; and sensitization and training of the law enforcement personnel to understand the legal implications of any such information received and to analyze the same through the data available.
The petitioner appealed to the court for issuance of a writ in the nature of mandamus to establish a proper mechanism to ascertain the qualifications of the persons practicing modern medicine within the state and to identify all such persons who are practicing modern medicine without the requisite qualifications. The division bench of the Gauhati High Court issued notices to the respondents comprising the Union Health and Family Welfare ministry, the Union Ayush Ministry and the National Medical Commission, Assam Chief Secretary, the State Health Department, the Director of Medical Education, the Medical and Education Research Department and the Assam Council of Medical Registration.
In response to the Gauhati High Court’s direction, the Joint Director of Health Services of all districts of the State are now verifying the qualifications of all medical practitioners in their respective districts.
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