Will Listen to Doctors but won't take back Bill: Raj CM on Right to Health Bill as Doctors continue protest

Jaipur: While the doctors across the country are continuing their protest against the Right to Health Bill by Rajasthan Government, the Chief Minister of the State Ashok Gehlot has urged the doctors to end their strike and assured that the government is ready to listen to the doctors.

Clarifying that the Right to Health Bill is in the public interest, CM Gehlot added, "I would again like to appeal that government is ready to listen to doctors. There shouldn't be any misunderstanding and the strike must be called off," adds First India.

"We have sorted out all the misunderstandings & have included all the suggestions from doctors. We want both public & private sectors to serve the people of state. We respect all the doctors," further added CM.

Meanwhile, the medical services in the State collapsed further on Wednesday with the government doctors and faculty members in medical colleges joining a one-day strike in solidarity with the protesting private doctors. However, the emergency services are still available.

In the last two days, the Ministers in the State Cabinet have expressed contradictory opinions regarding the possibility of withdrawal of the controversial bill. On Monday, dismissing all the possibility of taking the bill back, Rajasthan Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena told ANI that even though the Government is ready to discuss the matter, the bill won't be taken back at any cost.

"If there's any problem with the bill, then we are ready to hold a discussion but the bill won't be taken back. At any cost, we will not take back the bill," stated the Health Minister.

Meanwhile, expressing completely contradictory opinion Cabinet Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas on Tuesday told the news agency ANI that if necessary, the Rajasthan government will step back amid the ongoing protest by doctors in Rajasthan against the Right to Health Bill.

"We do not want confrontation with the doctors and want them to end the strike. If required, the government will take four steps back," he mentioned, adding "Right to Health Bill has been brought in the interest of the public as government intention and thinking is to make Rajasthan first state in the country to have Right to Health Bill."

Pratap Singh also offered himself to a mediator between government and doctors and said "if doctors are having any problem they can share, I had talks with CM and the Deputy CM also wants this deadlock to be ended. A government never enters a fight for prestige and if in public interest it has to step back then it will. I would also request the doctor to find a solution through talks."

Also Read: Right to Health Bill Protest: More than 50,000 Doctors, Paramedical Personnel join Rally in Rajasthan, Doctors observe Black Day across India

Amid all this, now the Chief Minister Gehlot has urged the doctors to withdraw their strike and assured to listen to the doctors, adds First India. "I would again like to appeal that government is ready to listen to doctors. There shouldn't be any misunderstanding and the strike must be called off," said the CM.

The doctors belonging to private hospitals in Rajasthan have been protesting against the proposed "Right to Health" bill for the last few months. While the Bill was proposed by the Rajasthan Government to ensure that the residents of the State can avail treatment at any hospital, it made the medical fraternity in the State furious as they termed it to be draconian and illogical. Several Clauses of the bill have been pointed out by the doctors under Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society (PHNHS) and Jaipur Medical Association as they claimed that it lacks clarity and wants to delimit the powers of doctors.

Referring to the Bill that aims to ensure the rights of the patient for availing quality healthcare, the doctors have mainly objected to the clauses that requires that patients will be treated for any medical emergency free of cost at both private and government hospitals. The doctors pointed out that the State has not defined what is an emergency and how the cost of such medical expenses will be reimbursed to the private doctors and hospitals.

Apart from this, the doctors under the Jaipur branch of Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also opposed a specific clause of the bill that talks about setting up a separate grievance redressal committee for addressing the complaints by patients. Amidst the complete shutdown of medical services in Rajasthan by private and government doctors, the State passed the bill in the Assembly last week.

Even though the State Assembly has now passed this controversial bill, the doctors are not ready to accept defeat and they are continuing their protest against the controversial Health Act demanding the withdrawal of the same.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that expressing solidarity with the Rajasthan doctors, IMA had announced observing All India Protest Day on March 27. On the same day, around 50,000 doctors and paramedical staff from all across Rajasthan joined the protesting march in Jaipur. Soon the video of the rally started circulating on the social media.

The protest against the alleged "draconian" bill is continuing across the country with the Rajasthan doctors maintaining the complete shutdown of medical services in the State.

In a recent press release IMA mentioned, "National IMA held a huge online march on 27/03/23 with thousands of doctors participating. IMA National President Dr. Sharad Kr. Agarwal and HSG, Dr. Anil Kumar J Nayak urged the Rajasthan Government to initiate discussions with the protesting doctors and take steps to resolve the issue immediately. They told that Government should not run away from the responsibility of providing quality health care to all and for providing adequate infrastructure and facilities for providing the best possible service to the public."

Warning to continue the agitation throughout India, IMA further mentioned in the release, "If Government failed to withdraw the bill IMA may take Aggressive action to protest and will continue our agitation throughout country. Any difficulty faced by patients will be responsibility of Rajasthan Government."

The private doctors in Rajasthan have been maintaining the complete shutdown of medical services throughout the State for the last few days. As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the medical service sin the State became further crippled on Wednesday after the government doctors and faculty members in medical colleges joined a one-day strike to express their solidarity for the agitating private doctors. However, the doctors have exempted emergency services from the strike.

As a result of this, the general patients faced lots of difficulties to avail treatment in both government and private healthcare facilities. Commenting on this, the president of in-service doctors association in the State, Ajay Chaudhury told the daily that the government doctors have gone on a mass leave on Wednesday to boycott their work for supporting the movement against the controversial RTH bill. However, he further mentioned that the emergency services are still operative as doctors are working in the emergencies.

The daily adds that the State has warned taking strict action against the doctors and government staff members who are taking leave without prior approval. In this regard, the Joint Secretary of the Health Department Iqbal Khan issued an order on Tuesday and directed the heads of medical colleges to ensure that medical services in OPD, IPD, ICU, emergency and maternity wards do not get affected. The order further directed to take disciplinary action against the doctors taking leave without approval.

However, Mr. Chaudhary told The Hindu that there was no impact of the concerned order on the striking professionals. “It is the duty of the state to issue such orders in order to make its own arrangements, but government doctors all over the state are on mass leave and have boycotted work,” he added.

India Today adds that the ongoing protest against the RTH Bill has severely affected the healthcare service in the state. Due to this, medical procedures have faced significant disruptions and more than 300 operations have been postponed or delayed at Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital, the biggest government hospital in Rajasthan. In Jaipur, due to the strike, at least 3000 operations have been delayed.

Also Read: Right To Health Bill Protest escalates with complete medical shutdown in Rajasthan, Police use water cannons on doctors