BENGALURU: While the health department has identified more than 1,400 fake doctors across the State, social activists say that Bengaluru alone may have more than that number. They point out that fake doctors, especially AYUSH (Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) doctors, are the ones involved in sex determination and female foeticide, which was evident from the abortion racket exposed in Mandya recently.
A social activist who requested anonymity said, “The health department recently released data that there are 1,436 fake doctors in the state. Bengaluru Urban area alone may have so many quacks of whom AYUSH doctors lead the chart. Anyone can get a fake registration certificate and licence by greasing palms at the Karnataka Ayurveda Unani Practitioners Board (KAUPB), which is expected to prevent fakes. These people set up clinics and labs with fake Ayurveda and Unani certificates, and practice allopathy. They are risking the lives of thousands of people who visit them.”
When a doctor dies, or shifts to another state or country, the registration certificates and numbers must be cancelled by the board. However, corrupt officials are handing over such cancelled registration numbers to unqualified quacks, he alleged. He called upon the health department to wake up and take action against fake doctors who are risking the lives of innocent patients.
The activist alleged that the fake racket is continuing at the Department of AYUSH, as it is filled with the same officials who have not been transferred for many years, or have returned, leading to maladministration. Some of them face pending inquiries. The quacks run piles and fistula clinics, massage parlours and give fake promises to cure health problems, especially sexual disorders. This has led to people suspecting Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) doctors to be quacks as well.
When TNIE took up the issue of fake doctors and action taken against them with Health Commissioner D Randeep, he said, “An unholy nexus exists between fake doctors, sex determination and female foeticide.” He said they had submitted a detailed report to the State Supervisory Board for PCPNDT.
Task force to prevent foeticide
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, who chaired the first meeting with the monitoring committee constituted under the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act here on Thursday, said a state and district-level task force under the health commissioner will be set up to prevent foeticide. He also said the health department will request the Home department to depute ACP-level police officers and two sub-inspectors to the health department to carry out raids and decoy operations to prevent foeticide. Besides monitoring, wide awareness will be created about female foeticide, he said. Discussions are on to amend the PCPNDT Act to increase imprisonment from three to five years, and step up fines from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5 lakh, and make the crime non-bailable.