Aiming to tighten its noose around Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs) of homoeopathy, ayurveda and allopathy, the Punjab Government on Wednesday banned their advertisements associated with cures for sexual and other ailments and threatened to cancel the licenses of offenders.

The decision of the Punjab Government came from a meeting of heads of medical councils and boards chaired by Medical Education and Research Secretary Jagjit Puri. It’s the Punjab Government’s move to initiate action against all registered medical practitioners of homoeopathy, ayurveda and allopathy who advertise their services via the print, broadcast and outdoor media.

Puri said, any doctor found giving advertisements would be issued show cause notice by the medical authorities and proceedings would be launched for cancellation of his licence.

Issuing instructions for starting a campaign to stop advertisements by RMPs as it was in violation of guidelines of the Medical Council of India and Indian Medical Association, Mr. Puri said it was "unfortunate that some leading medical practitioners" were advertising through the media and putting hoardings claiming "total rejuvenation especially in matter of sexual problems and assuring the birth of male children".

According to Mr. Jagjit Puri, the district authorities and transport department were also being approached to remove hoardings of doctors from municipal limits, bus depots and stops. The Medical Education and Research Minister Tikshan Sood had also stated that some RMPs were "luring innocent people by giving misleading advertisements" and turning the medical profession into a money-minting business.