Pune, 12 July 2025: In response to the Maharashtra government's decision to stay the registration of homeopathy doctors who have successfully completed the Certificate Course in Modern Pharmacology (CCMP), Dr. Bahubali Shah, the administrator of the Maharashtra Council of Homeopathy, has announced an indefinite hunger strike.
The protest will commence on Wednesday, July 16, at Mumbai’s Azad Maidan. Several organizations representing homeopathy doctors across the state have extended support to the agitation and are expected to join the protest on the streets.
The CCMP course was designed by the Modern Medicine Department of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) to enable homeopathy doctors to prescribe allopathic medicines. This course was introduced following legislative approval of a provision allowing homeopathy doctors to practice certain aspects of modern medicine. After receiving the state government’s sanction, the first batch of doctors completed the course in 2017.
By December last year, around 9,160 homeopathy doctors had successfully completed the CCMP training. The state's Medical Education Department had instructed the Maharashtra Medical Council to initiate a separate registration process for these practitioners. This registration was scheduled to begin on July 15. However, in light of opposition from certain medical organizations, the state government recently stayed the decision and formed a seven-member committee to reassess the matter.
Dr. Shah has strongly criticized this move, stating that it undermines the contribution of homeopathy doctors who often work long hours, ranging from 12 to 16 hours, in both urban and remote rural areas, providing critical health services.
He emphasized that CCMP-qualified doctors have been officially recognized and deserve independent registration. According to him, the government's reversal under pressure from opposing groups is misleading and unjust.
In protest, the Maharashtra Council of Homeopathy, under Dr. Shah’s leadership, will stage a mass demonstration. The protest aims to demand immediate implementation of the earlier government resolution allowing separate registration of CCMP-qualified homeopathy doctors.