New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the government to make its stand clear on a plea that a short-term course on primary health was required to allow non-MBBS persons to practice medicine in rural areas.

A division bench of acting Chief Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Mukta Gupta directed the government to file a detailed affidavit specifying whether it has accepted the recommendations given by the Central Council for Health and the task force which recommended a three-year course for practitioners.

The Medical Council of India (MCI) informed the court that it has not accepted all the recommendations of the task force and will file an affidavit in this regard by April 7.

The court was hearing a public interest petition filed by a public health specialist, Meenakshi Gautham, who said a person can practice modern medicine only after completing an MBBS course.

MBBS graduates, the petition said, either rush to big cities or go abroad, and thereby deprive a large majority of people of proper medical treatment. People in rural areas are forced to depend either on untrained and uncertified rural medical practitioners, or on quacks.

"The irony is that 80 percent of the common medical problems and ailments can be treated at the level of primary healthcare and do not require attention of a professional trained in highly academic, sophisticated, five-and-half-year-long course like MBBS," advocate Prashant Bhushan said. IANS