Docs call off stir after Raj govt, IMA reach agreement

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Amritsar, April 4

The local chapter of the Indian Medical Association has ended its protest over the Right to Health (RTH) Bill in Rajasthan after the state government and the IMA signed an MoU to resolve the issues. Stating this here today, Dr RS Sethi, vice-president, IMA, Punjab, said the national IMA body had given a call for the protest to express solidarity with doctors in Rajasthan as the new Bill curtailed their freedom.

Now, the government has announced to keep the hospital with less than 50 per cent capacity from outside the preview of the Bill, said Dr Sethi. He added that now only private medical colleges, hospitals established on PPP mode, hospitals established on land taken on subsidy or free from the government and the hospitals established by trusts would be covered under the RTH.

The local unit of the IMA had been holding symbolic protests against the Rajasthan Government for the last many days. “The new Bill brought by the Rajasthan government stated that private hospitals would be forced to give free treatment to patients in emergency. However, it failed to define emergency,” said Sethi, adding that it could have started the ruin of the private health care system.