Ruckus continues in Rajasthan regarding the Right to Health Bill. Doctors are on strike in private hospitals, emergency services are closed and patients are waiting for treatment in a deplorable condition. For the last few days, this picture is coming out from many hospitals of Rajasthan. Aaj Tak has captured the ground reality of that picture in its camera. Only the places have changed, the hospitals are different, but the suffering of the patients is the same, the long wait for treatment is the same.
Ground reality of patients’ pain
There is a long queue of patients outside the OPD at Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur. They have been waiting for their treatment for hours. One such patient is Mamta Sharma who is a resident of Alwar. There is respiratory disease, there is also a problem of phlegm. She has come to Jaipur with her husband, in the hope that she will get the right treatment. But the situation in the hospital is that two days have passed and Mamta has not received treatment yet. Pradeep Sharma, who came with the patient, tells that we have come from Alwar. Had come to the hospital yesterday also but could not see the doctor. Strike is going on, because of that nothing is going clear. Don’t know whether he will get treatment by standing in line or not. There doesn’t seem to be any benefit.
related news
Another patient has a story like Mamta’s. They have even been told that there are more patients, so you will not be able to get a bed. The name of the patient is Asha. She has also come to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in the hope of treatment. But his relatives have been told that beds will not be available due to the large number of patients. Now about this situation, senior doctor MK Sharma says that due to the strike of the doctors, the situation on the ground has become very serious. We are managing somehow. It is not clear for how long this situation will continue, but the doctors are not ready to end the strike, on the other hand, the state government is also in no mood to bow down.
An election promise that caused a ruckus
Prasadi Lal Meena, the health minister in the Rajasthan government, has insisted that the doctors have gone on strike without any reason. The Select Committee had included everyone, everyone’s concerns were also taken care of. Now the government has its own claims, but there is an atmosphere of resentment on the ground regarding the bill. What is the reason for this, what is the bill about, on what points there is ruckus? In fact, the Congress had promised to bring the Right to Health Bill in 2018 itself. This was one of his election promises. Then it was also presented in the House in September last year, but then there was a dispute over the rules for compulsory free emergency treatment and the bill could not be passed. But now this bill was passed during the current budget.
Through this bill, the aim of the government is that no patient will be denied treatment. On the other hand, if a patient is not able to bear his expenses in case of emergency, then the government will bear it. This rule is going to apply to private hospitals as well. Now private hospitals are opposing this aspect of the bill. Some are declaring it as Right to Death Bill. The emphasis is on the fact that the government has not clarified the emergency situation anywhere in the bill. It has also not been told how the money will be paid by the government to the hospital. For this reason, doctors of private hospitals are protesting.