By IANS,
New Delhi : Noting the crucial role played by physiotherapists and occupational therapists in health care, a parliamentary panel has recommended that their pay structure should be revised.
“The committee strongly recommends that their (allied health professionals including physiotherapists and occupational therapists) legitimate interests should be taken care of and their existing pay structure may be revised according to their qualifications and duration of the course they have put in before entering into a government job,” said the committee’s report which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha Tuesday.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare’s recommendations were on the Paramedical and Physiotherapy Central Councils Bill, 2007.
The committee headed by Rajya Sabha MP Amar Singh said there was a lot of dissatisfaction among the allied health professionals regarding their pay scales.
“General perception is that discriminatory treatment was being meted out to them (allied health professionals) as their pay scales did not commensurate with their status and responsibility,” the report said.
Paramedical profession is presently regulated in six states – Kerala, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh have a paramedical council each, Delhi and Maharashtra have a physiotherapy and occupational therapy council each and Andhra Pradesh has a paramedical board.
The committee further recommended a change in the title of the bill.
The Paramedical and Physiotherapy Central Councils Bill, 2007, which aims to set up separate councils for medical laboratory technicians, radiology technicians and others, should be renamed as Allied Health Professions Central Councils Act, 2007, according to the committee.
“The title of the act is only meant for indicating its very core content,” the recommendation added.