MUMBAI: Around a million doctors in India went on a day-long strike onFriday amid the coronavirus pandemic to protest against a new federalgovernment rule that allows practitioners of the traditional science ofAyurveda to perform minor surgeries.

Thousands of non-critical medical operations and routine consultationsacross the country were set to be disrupted as the Indian MedicalAssociation (IMA), the umbrella body for all conventional doctors andsurgeons, declared a decision to suspend work for 12 hours.

“All non-essential consultations and surgeries from morning until eveningon Friday were suspended, ” said Rajan Sharma, the head of IMA, adding thatthe strike would not affect treatment to COVID-19 patients.