Supreme Court rules Allopathy and Ayurveda Doctors Not Entitled to Equal Pay for Unequal Work

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that Allopathy doctors and doctors of indigenous medicine are not performing equal work and therefore not entitled to equal pay. The Court noted that Allopathy doctors are capable of providing emergency duty and trauma care, and assisting surgeons in performing complicated surgeries, while Ayurved doctors are not. The Court clarified that it was not assessing the relative merits of the two systems of medical sciences, and that every system has its own place in history.

The Court noted that during out-patient days (OPD) in general hospitals in cities/towns, MBBS doctors are made to attend to hundreds of patients, which is not the case with Ayurved doctors. Additionally, Ayurved doctors are not required in a post-mortem or autopsy.

The ruling set aside the Gujarat High Court order that practitioners possessing a degree of Bachelor of Ayurved in Medicine and Surgery were to be treated at par with doctors holding MBBS degrees and were entitled to the benefits of the recommendation of the Tikku Pay Commission. This ruling was based on a Memorandum of Settlement signed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Joint Action Council of Service Doctors Organisation, which had constituted a high power committee with RK Tikku as the Chairperson in 1990 to improve the prospects of doctors in Government service.

The Court noted that classification based on educational qualification is not violative of Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. It further noted that while the State of Gujarat had accepted the report of the Tikku Pay Commission with respect to allopathic doctors, in 1998 the Local Fund Audit, Ahmedabad sought clarifications from the State Government on whether the same benefits were available to non-MBBS medical practitioners. In 1999, the State Health and Family Welfare Department responded in the affirmative.

The respondents who were originally appointed on ad hoc basis, under the ‘Community Health Volunteer Medical Officers Scheme’ of the Union Government and who were later absorbed by the State of Gujarat in May, 1991, filed writ petitions before the Gujarat High Court seeking extension of the benefit of higher scales of pay on the basis of the recommendations of Tikku Pay Commission. The Singh Judge of the High Court allowed the writ petitions, which the Division Bench upheld.

The Supreme Court, while granting leave in the Special Leave Petition on 08.09.2014, had asked the State Government to comply with the order of the High Court up to 50% within two months, leaving the consideration of the other 50% upon the final adjudication of the SLP. In 2016 and 2017, contempt petitions were filed alleging non-compliance with the interim order, which were disposed of on the basis of an assurance given by the State Government.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled that Allopathy doctors and doctors of indigenous medicine cannot be said to be performing “equal work” so as to be entitled to “equal pay”. This ruling has set a precedent for future cases regarding the pay of doctors of different medical systems.