In a major protest against the proposed amendments to Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Bill, more than 40,000 private hospitals and clinics across the State remained closed on Friday as private doctors went on a day’s strike.
Dr HN Ravindra, president of the Karnataka chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), said they have protested against Karnataka’s proposed amendments to a medical Bill to fix costs for private hospitals and penalise doctors. He said, “Nearly 50,000 private doctors from across Karnataka will abstain from their duties on Friday against the amendments proposed to Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Bill 2017.”
“If the Government sets up a law this way, doctors are going to be extremely wary of taking up risky cases as the Bill even proposes imprisoning the doctors for up to three years and imposing a fine of Rs 5 lakh,” Ravindra added.
“If the State Government wants to bring out a new medical law then it has to include the Government hospitals too, as through this the Government hospitals could also improve,” he said.
According to the proposed amendments, it regulates costs in private hospitals, prohibiting the hospitals from levying any additional costs from those set by the Government. The Bill also proposes setting up of a grievance redressal committee to look into any complaints against the private hospitals and penalising the doctors for any negligence in their work.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has said that suitable amendments will be made to the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Bill based on the recommendations of the joint select committee of the legislature. He, however, did not clarify whether the government will fulfil the demands of private medical establishments.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on Friday, the Chief Minister said the Bill would be taken up for discussion in the winter session of the legislature scheduled to be held at Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi from November 13. He said that directions have been issued to the Health and Family Welfare department to take measures to minimise inconvenience to people due to doctors' protest.
Ruling Congress government has announced a flurry of populist schemes—mostly around food security— that includes Aarogya Bhagya or universal health coverage aimed at providing free medical assistance to 14 million households in the state. The scheme was aimed at winning over socially and economically backward classes ahead of next year’s assembly elections. The appeasement politics ahead of assembly polls are crucial for the congress party.