Rajasthan MLA highlights Stipend Violations, overwork, recruitment issues in Assembly

Among the concerns were inadequate medical education due to a lack of faculty and infrastructure, excessive duty hours for resident doctors, stipend violations in private medical colleges, delays in Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES) recruitment, and lack of transparency in transfer policies.

One of the major issues raised was the delayed payments under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, leaving numerous beneficiaries waiting for their rightful claims. Citing data obtained through the Right to Information (RTI) Act by the United Doctors’ Front (UDF), she underscored the urgent need for addressing these lapses in the implementation of the government’s flagship health insurance program.

Medical Dialogues recently reported that a total outstanding amount of Rs 1,21,61,45,63,617 (₹1.21 lakh crore) remains unpaid to empanelled hospitals under the Ayushman Bharat scheme (AB-PMJAY), with more than 63 lakh pending claims yet to be cleared, revealed the data shared by the National Health Authority (NHA) in response to a Right to Information (RTI) application.

Dr. Barala also spoke about the exploitative working conditions of resident doctors, who are often forced to work long hours beyond permissible limits, particularly in private medical institutions where stipend violations are rampant. Additionally, she criticized the lack of transparency in transfer policies and the slow recruitment process under RajMES, which has left many positions in government healthcare institutions vacant.

Another controversial matter she brought up was the appointment of Dr. Pramod Yeole as the Vice-Chancellor of Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS), Jaipur. Yeole, a pharmacist from Maharashtra, was deemed unqualified to lead a medical university, drawing widespread backlash from doctors’ associations across Rajasthan. Dr. Barala expressed gratitude to the United Doctors’ Front (UDF) for consistently bringing these issues to public attention and emphasized the need for immediate reforms to ensure better healthcare delivery in the state.

Dr Lakshya Mittal, National President of UDF, took to his X account and appreciated Dr Barala for putting forward the issue in the assembly, “A powerful stand for medical fraternity! Hon’ble MLA, Rajasthan Dr. Barala ma’am, MS (OBGY) fearlessly raised key issues in Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha Assembly. United Doctors Front (UDF) thanks her for being our voice. The fight for better healthcare & medical education continues!”