Doctors went on a day-long strike in Karnataka on Monday as part of the nationwide protest called by the Indian Medical Association to protest certain reforms initiated by the Central Government in the medical field.
The striking doctors staged a dharna at the Freedom Park between 9.30 am to 12 noon and later submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and Governor H R Bhardwaj, IMA state President Dr H L Krishne Gowda told PTI in Bangalore.
He said about 1,000 doctors affiliated to IMA and private practitioners across the state went on the strike protesting the National Commission for Human Resources for Health (NCHRH) Bill 2011 as they feared that the new scheme would create an organisation that would supersede the now-defunct Medical Council of India and all other para-medical councils.
Doctors fear the NCHRH would be governed by bureaucrats instead of doctors and would lead to vested interests, he said. "It is also likely that it will increase red-tape and lead to harassment of doctors and their ilk," he added.
"The dissolution of MCI is an anti-democratic measure aimed to take away its autonomy," Krishne Gowda said.