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Around 50,000 doctors across Rajasthan who were protesting against the newly enacted Right to Health (RTH) Act called off their two-week-long strike on Tuesday, 4 April, hours after inking a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government.
But how did the doctors and the government reach a consensus?
Dr Sunil Chugh, President, IMA Rajasthan, and one of the signatories of the MoU, told FIT that now that the government has agreed to the demands, the doctors' focus "will now be on the formation of rules of the Act."
He says that the doctors want to ensure that:
It is mentioned in the rules that “emergency” is restricted to accidents, snake, and animal bites.
The paragragh on “emergency obstetric treatment and care” be removed.
Dr Rajendra Yadav, an United Private Clinics and Hospitals of Rajasthan member, agrees with Dr Chugh. He adds:
The eight-point MoU highlights the demands raised by the doctors’ associations, which now the state government seems to have reached a consensus over.
According to the agreement, the health minister has agreed to exclude private multi-specialty hospitals with less than 50-beds and private hospitals established without any support from the government (in the form of land or building) from the RTH Act.
As per the MoU signed between the state government and the doctors' associations who led the protest – the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society (PHNHS), and the United Private Clinics and Hospitals of Rajasthan (UPCHAR) – the hospitals which will be covered under the RTH Act include
Private medical college hospitals
Hospitals established on PPP mode
Hospitals run by trust
Hospitals established after being allotted land by the government on subsidised rate
A press release issued by the IMA on Tuesday evening stated:
In the last two weeks, private hospitals in the state remained partially closed and government doctors wore black ribbons on their arms in solidarity with the private sector.
Dr Chugh told FIT, that the organisation had been pushing back against the bill since 2022 when its draft was first uploaded on the website of the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare.
Continuing their agitation, the doctors' bodies demanded a select committee review the bill.
However, it was only after the bill was passed in the Assembly that the doctors took to the streets demanding its withdrawal.
(The author is a journalist based in Rajasthan reporting on politics, gender, human rights, and issues impacting marginalised communities. She tweets @tabeenahanjum.)
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