Rajasthan Doctors, Ashok Gehlot Govt Reach Consensus On Right To Health Bill

New Delhi: The Ashok Gehlot-led government and the private doctors in Rajasthan on Tuesday reached a consensus on the Right To Health Bill, which the latter had claimed would create hurdles in their smooth functioning and that the involvement of local authorities will increase. Chief Minister Gehlot broke the news on Twitter and said that he is happy that an agreement was reached between his government and the doctors on the Right To Health Bill, which was passed last month. 

A delegation of doctors, including those from the Indian Medical Association (IMA), the private hospitals, the Nursing Homes Association, and the United Private Clinics and Hospitals Association (UPCHAR), held talks with the government and signed a memorandum on eight points. The protesting doctors said their major demand that private hospitals that have not taken any benefit from the government in the form of land or buildings at subsidised rates should be kept outside the ambit of the RTH Bill has been accepted.

"An agreement with the government has been arrived at. The private sector has completely been freed from the RTH Bill. The government will implement it from its resources and institutions. We have converted our rally into a 'Vijay Rally' and will hold a general body meeting to call off the agitation formally," the news agency PTI quoted the secretary of the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society Dr Vijay Kapoor as saying.

Ashok Gehlot said that Rajasthan has now become the first state in the country to implement the 'Right to Health'.

"I am happy that finally an agreement has been reached between the government and the doctors on Right to Health and Rajasthan has become the first state in the country to implement Right to Health. I hope that the doctor-patient relationship will remain the same in the future as well," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

मुझे प्रसन्नता है कि राइट टू हेल्थ पर सरकार व डॉक्टर्स के बीच अंततः सहमति बनी एवं राजस्थान राइट टू हेल्थ लागू करने वाला देश का पहला राज्य बना है।

मुझे आशा है कि आगे भी डॉक्टर-पेशेंट रिलेशनशिप पूर्ववत यथावत रहेगी।#RightToHealth — Ashok Gehlot (@ashokgehlot51) April 4, 2023

Earlier last week, Gehlot had met a delegation of the protesting doctors and had appealed to them to end their strike.

What is Rajasthan's Right To Health Bill?