Kerala HC stays govt order allowing traditional healers to practise ayurveda without registration

The operation and implementation of the Kerala government’s order of 21-2-2011 giving exemption to traditional ayurvedic healers of Kerala from acquiring recognized qualification and registration for practicing ayurveda has been stayed by the Kerala High court on April 26. The court made the judgement on a petition filed by a group of ayurvedic doctors belonging to the Kerala unit of the Ayurvedic Medical Association of India (AMAI).  For the AMAI, Advocate P Gopinath Menon appeared in the court. Besides giving permission to traditional ayurvedic healers, the order of February 21 by the Kerala government had exempted self educated homoeopathic practitioners of Malabar area to practice homoeopathy system without registration and academic qualification. The high court had earlier stayed the permission given to the fake homoeopaths following a petition submitted by All Kerala Homoeopathic Coordination Council (AKHCC), a movement of qualified homoeopathic practitioners, students, teachers and Medical officers of that system. The members of AMAI approached the court under Article 226 of the constitution of India requesting to quash the government order issued on February 21 this year. The petition was filed in public interest as well as to protect the professional interests of the Ayurvedic Medical Offices Association. Office-bearers of AMAI said one of the objectives of the petition was to ensure that quackery bringing disrepute to qualified and authentic medical practitioners be prevented and put an end to ayurvedic system of health care from being misused by quacks in disguise. They said the association has definite knowledge that a large number of bogus practitioners continued to defraud the public by masquerading themselves as Ayurveda doctors and thereby cheating the public.  The order said that the unqualified and self-learnt people hailing from traditional healers’ family of Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargod districts and were in the practising field for a continuous period of 20 years prior to 01-01-2011,could continue their practice in the concerned system by virtue of their hereditary. The government had issued the order based on section 38 of the Travancore-Cochin Medical Practitioners Act 1953. The government had also exempted these traditional practitioners from the requirement of recognized qualification and registration. Members of AMAI said the government order is against the provisions of the central council act. According to the association, the provisions of the TCMP Act has never been extended to the Malabar area of the state of Kerala , which was part of Madras province of the British India, prior to the formation of Kerala in 1956. It was the Madras Medical Registration Act 1914 that regulated the practice of medicine in the Madras province. Source:Pharmabiz