The Indian Medical Association, Rajasthan chapter, observed a black day on Wednesday, a day after the state assembly passed the Right to Health Bill (RTH) even as state health minister Parsadi Lal Meena said that there was “no scope to amend the bill.” All private hospitals in the state remained shut to oppose the bill.
The doctors who have been protesting for the past four days, demanding withdrawal of the bill said they will “continue the agitation” and planned “to intensify the stir”.
In continuation to the protests, the doctors on Wednesday morning gathered near the SMS Hospital in Jaipur and burnt copies of their registration certificates. They also blocked the main JLN Marg in Jaipur, causing a traffic jam.
Dr Sanjeev Gupta, media in-charge of IMA, Rajasthan, said “We will fight (against the bill) first as doctors and then as citizens.”
Dr Sunil Chugh, IMA Rajasthan president, said, “The doctors will continue the agitation and take it to all-India level.”
Meanwhile, government doctors also observed a two-hour work boycott in support of the protest. Resident doctors from SMS hospital had joined the strike on Tuesday and on Wednesday, senior residents also extended their support.
Extending support to the agitation, All Rajasthan in Service Doctors’ Association president Ajay Choudhary said, “The association criticised the alleged lathicharge on the doctors and observed a two-hour pen-down strike.”
The IMA, Rajasthan, members also held a meeting to decide their future strategy. The IMA members were trying to get support from the pharmacy and nursing associations, said people in the know of the matter. They were also in touch with the Indian Medical Association at the national level to get support from doctors across the country, said the people.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan health minister Parsadi Lal Meena said that there is no scope to amend the bill.
“When this bill has been unanimously passed in the assembly and a law has been made, then everyone has to accept it and no one can disobey the law,” he said, as reported by news agency ANI
“Chief minister Ashok Gehlot has also appealed to the doctors and I am also appealing to them to return to work, otherwise the government will take necessary action,” he added.
Doctors in Kota, Jodhpur, Sikar, Bharatpur, Dausa, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jalore, Bikaner, Churu observed strike against the RTH bill.
