No check on physiotherapists in absence of council in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 23:

There is no physiotherapy council in Odisha, even though the demand of physiotherapists is skyrocketing with time.

While the doctors recommend physiotherapy for many types of fitness and joint pain related issues, the demand has given rise to quite a number of private clinics where practitioners charge the patients between Rs 300 to Rs 1000 for half an hour of physiotherapy. Some of the patients are advised to continue this for months and even round the year.

However, what is not known is the eligibility of these physiotherapists. The patients resign themselves to fate and find another therapist, when they find their condition has not improved with one.

This condition is more or less the same all over the state in the absence of a physiotherapy council, which would otherwise have verified the credentials of the private practitioners before allowing them to practice.

“Without the council, quite a few untrained practitioners open shops which are beyond anybody’s control. The hands of the government are tied even though it is aware of the issue. This happens at a time when trained therapists move away from their profession due to lack of government job offers,” said Odisha Convenor of Indian Association of Physiotherapists Amlan Maiti.

As per information provided by Dr. Maiti, physiotherapy councils exist in states such as Punjab, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu etc where the therapist register themselves and work towards providing quality service to patients while using latest technology.

The situation in Odisha, however, is in stark contrast. The government neither cares about physiotherapy nor the therapists. While graduate courses are offered in seven of the colleges and post-graduate courses in three of the colleges in the state, the government is least bothered about the quality of education or the placement of the students graduating from these institutes.

This makes talented and trained therapists search for jobs in other states or drop the profession altogether while untrained therapists continue to operate from their private clinics.

While there are more than 200 such clinics in the state, 75 of them are in Bhubaneswar, said Odisha Chapter of Indian Association of Physiotherapists. If there can be a medical council and nursing council in state, why should there not be a physiotherapy council, it asks.