Medical Protection Act: Jharkhand IMA threatens to go on strike over pending demands

Ranchi: In order to ensure the security of healthcare professionals at the workplace, the Jharkhand Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Sunday demanded that the state government implement the Medical Protection Act (MPA) and an amendment to the Clinical Establishment Act (CEA).

The Jharkhand Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Sunday demanded that the state government implement the Medical Protection Act (MPA) and an amendment to the Clinical Establishment Act (CEA) at the earliest in Jharkhand for the benefit of doctors and patients. 

The IMA during its executive body meeting here decided to request the government in this regard, failing to which they may launch a fresh agitation.

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Addressing the media, Jharkhand chapter IMA president Arun Kumar Singh said that their demands are still pending with the state government. “We are just given assurances but no concrete step has been taken yet. The government has adopted a lackadaisical approach towards our long pending demands, which is not acceptable,” he said. 

Singh said that when they created pressure with rounds of agitations, the state government brought MPA bill in the state assembly during the budget session. “With objection by few MLAs, it was sent to the Select Committee, and is pending there for around five months,” Singh said.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the draft of the new medical personnel protection bill, the Jharkhand Medical Service, Medical Service Association (Prevention of Violence and Property Damage) Bill, 2023 has for the third time failed to get clearance from the House and has referred to a select committee following the demands of the opposition MLA's.

The cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Hemant Soren had on March 15 approved the bill, which is aimed at protecting the healthcare professionals in Jharkhand. The bill was tabled at the assembly on Tuesday, March 21. The bill was introduced in 2013 and 2017 too, however, it failed to get passed in the assembly. 

Speaking over amending in CEA, Jharkhand IMA secretary Pradeep Kumar said, “We just demanded amendment in a rule in the Clinical Establishment Act. It could be amended without passing it through assembly but the government is ignorant.” He said they have demanded to keep single doctor’s clinics, couple doctors’ clinics and hospitals below 50 beds out of the purview of CEA. “If the amendment is not done immediately, single doctor clinics, couple doctors’ clinics and hospitals below 50 beds will be forced to shut their establishments,” he said.

Jharkhand IMA president said, “If the government does not take any step, we will have no choice but to start our agitation again, which might put patients in trouble that we do not want.”