Quacks cannot play with the lives of “little Indians” on the strength of questionable certificates, the Supreme Court ruled today in a judgment with far-reaching consequences if enforced strictly. The court said an “unqualified, unregistered and unauthorised medical practitioner” who had no “valid” qualification, degree or diploma couldn’t be permitted to “exploit poor Indians” on the basis of a certificate granted by an institution. The vacation bench cleared the air after...

The word ‘Mitanin’ was derived from a Chhattisgarhi custom, where a ‘mitanin’ is a girl bonded ceremoniously in her childhood to another girl as a lifelong friend IT IS quite common for tractors in rural India to haul all kinds of unusual cargo. Even then, a late night emergency shuttle, from a small home in Narayanpaal village in the backward Bastar district of Chhattisgarh, to ferry a pregnant woman in...

The UPA government has betrayed its promise of inclusive growth over the years as a result of which poverty ratios have remained extremely high despite rapid economic growth, says Praful Bidwai. The new National Advisory Council must act urgently on nutritional security and public healthcare, he adds. The reconstitution of the National Advisory Council under Sonia Gandhi, announced by India’s United Progressive Alliance government, is good news. The original NAC died...

Unauthorized medical practitioners find business where Bihar’s health machinery deserts polio victims Two-year-old Khushi Kumari loves racing with her siblings and at the end of each run she gives out a hearty laugh. The only time she breaks into fits of inconsolable crying is when approached by a stranger. “She fears she would get injections again,” said her mother Dinapati Yadav of Haldichapra village in Patna district. “In September last year...

Programme aims to reduce shortage of doctors in rural areas  Students to be encouraged to take up the course and then work in rural areas It is not possible to restrict doctors according to geographic area: IMA The Indian Medical Association, the largest non-government organisation of allopathic doctors in the country, has come out strongly against the Medical Council of India’s proposal to start a rural MBBS course called Bachelor of Rural...