Bengal : IMA to move court questioning validity of Clinical Establishments Act

On continuing their protests "politically", the IMA official said, "We will continue seeking time from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is also the Health Minister of the state in this matter. We want to sensitise her about our part of the story."

Stating that the IMA is against the Act because it was "not tabled", nor "put into public domain" and also because it has the legal provision of imprisonment, Aggarwal said that the body will continue to request Banerjee to have a relook into the "unconstitutional" points of the Act.

"The IMA will request the Chief Minister to consider our collective request to look into the Act which has got several unconstitutional points and resolve them," he said.

It is almost a month since the IMA had written to the Chief Minister's office seeking appointment for a discussion on the new Act, bringing under surveillance private medical facilities in the state.

The IMA had been demanding some amendments to the Act to bring a single-window accountability, a single-window regulation.

The Act which was passed in the state Assembly on March 3, aimed at ensuring transparency in the functioning and activities of private clinical establishments.

Besides monitoring the activities of private hospitals and nursing homes, the Act also has the provision of imposing penalty on medical facilities in case of violation.