Doctors take out massive rally in Jaipur as deadlock over Right to Health Bill continues

he deadlock over the Right to Health Bill, passed by the Rajasthan Assembly last week, continued

The deadlock over the Right to Health Bill, passed by the Rajasthan Assembly last week, continued here on Monday with the private hospitals demanding its immediate rollback. The private doctors protesting against the Bill stepped up their agitation and took out a massive rally in Jaipur in a show of strength.

Thousands of doctors, accompanied by their family members, para-medical staff and chemist shop owners, took part in the rally, which started from the resident doctors’ hostel ground of Sawai Man Singh Government Hospital. The medicos carried banners and placards, raised slogans with the demand for the Bill’s withdrawal and wound their way through the city’s roads.

Private hospitals and nursing homes across the State have been closed for several days because of the doctors’ strike. This has led to an increased pressure on the government hospitals, where long queues of patients were witnessed. The resident doctors in government hospitals have also extended support to their peers in the private sector and are boycotting work.

The Right to Health Bill gives every resident of the State the right to emergency treatment care without prepayment of requisite fee or charges to any health institution. Private hospitals are apprehensive of the government’s interference in their functioning following the enforcement of the law.

A meeting of the agitating doctors with Chief Secretary Usha Sharma and senior government officers here on Sunday evening remained inconclusive, as the medicos affirmed that any discussion would be possible only after the Bill was withdrawn. Ms. Sharma assured the delegation of doctors that the State government was willing to hold discussion on their suggestions.

Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes Society’s secretary Vijay Kapoor said the Bill was “unconstitutional” and the doctors would not budge until it was withdrawn. “We will discuss the errors [in the Bill] only after it is withdrawn... We want a written assurance from the government on this,” Dr. Kapoor told reporters after the talks ended.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has once again appealed to the doctors to withdraw their strike, saying it was not in the public interest. The State government is also reportedly considering action against the private hospitals in view of the continuing agitation. The Health Department was asked to provide complete information about the hospitals functioning across the State.