Ayurveda And MBBS Doctors Do Not Perform The Same Amount Of Work And Thus Cannot Be Entitled To Equal Pay - SC

The Gujarat High Court's order equating the pay and benefits of Ayurveda practitioners with those of MBBS doctors has been overturned by the Supreme Court. Justices V Ramasubramanian and Pankaj Mithal of the Bench noted that the two categories do not perform the same amount of work and thus cannot be entitled to equal pay. The Bench acknowledged the historical significance of alternative systems of medicine but clarified that modern-day practitioners of such systems cannot participate in surgeries or provide surgical assistance.

The Gujarat government's appeal against a 2013 High Court order, which granted Ayurveda doctors benefits equivalent to their MBBS counterparts as recommended by the Tikku Pay Commission, was heard by the Bench. The apex court clarified at the outset that classification based on educational qualifications is not a violation of Articles 14 and 16, citing several precedents.

Regarding the issue of parity between modern medicine and Ayurveda doctors, the Bench emphasized that practitioners of alternative medicine do not perform complex surgical operations. Ayurveda education does not authorize them to conduct surgeries, post-mortems, or magisterial inquiries into causes of death. In view of the same, the SC allowed the appeal.