Mumbai: As a decision from the medical education ministry remains pending over the induction of homeopaths into modern medicine based on a one-year course, Maharashtra Medical Association (MMC) officials on Friday said the situation is increasingly turning tense.Just a day prior, homeopathic practitioners were called for a discussion on standard operating procedures at the MMC office in Chinchpokli. Dr Vinky Rughwani, MMC administrator, said the homeopaths had misunderstood it as the day some of them would receive their registration certificates. ”They locked the main doors of the MMC and started protesting. They were insisting that until the time they get their certificates, they would not open the doors. We had to call the police,” he said.Dr Rughwani added that the handful of staff who were there at the MMC office at the time managed to get out through the back entrance.Meanwhile, the state Indian Medical Association (IMA) has condemned the incident and demanded that immediate criminal charges, including obstructing government duty, be filed against the homeopaths who entered the MMC office, “created an atmosphere of terror, and threatened employees”.The state IMA added that special police protection must be deployed at the MMC office. “While the administration and IMA are working harmoniously toward a resolution, the conduct of the BHMS-CCMP (homeopathic) agitators has taken a highly irresponsible and violent turn,” the state IMA said in a statement.
