They also staged demonstrations at several places in the two states and its capital Chandigarh and also opposed introduction of Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) course.
Most of the chemists, druggists, medical representatives and pathologists observed a token strike in support of their demand to scrap the Clinical Establishments Act.
"We will not accept the draconian Act come what may. This Act would reduce the Medical Council of India to the status of 'puppet' in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians. The provisions of the new Act are against the interests of both, doctors and the patients, the protesters said.
"No new doctor would be abe to establish his own hospital in the big towns because he or she will have to purchase of plot of five hundred yards for the hospital. The price of the land has become unaffordable, Dr Pankaj Arora, a member of IMA of Punjab Council, said here.
Several private practitioners shouted slogans in the main market of Chandigarh to register their protest.
Meanwhile, the functioning of the government hospitals remained unaffected.
