Ayurvedic doctors are entitled to be treated at par with their allopathic counterparts, the Supreme Court has said in an order.
“Ayurvedic doctors will be entitled to be treated at par with allopathic medical officers and dental medical officers under the National Rural Health Mission [NRHM/NHM] scheme,” a Bench led by Justice Vineet Saran held in a recent order.
The apex court was upholding an order of the Uttarakhand High Court that ayurvedic doctors would get the same salary as allopathic and dental medical officers under the scheme.
The NRHM scheme was introduced in 2015 by the Centre to provide affordable healthcare to the rural poor.
The dispute concerned the appointments made by the Uttarakhand government of AYUSH medical officers in the Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram. There was considerable disparity in their salary compared to allopathic doctors. The AYUSH doctors had approached the High Court when the State government did not deal with their pleas for parity.
