Jaipur: The much talked about “Rajasthan Right to Health Act 2022” is waiting for implementation as the rules of the said Act have not been framed even after six months of getting the assent of the Governor.
Rajasthan was the first state to pass the Right to Health Act which provides the right to free treatment in any hospital in case of emergency.
In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, signed by more than 70 organizations and Jan Swasthya Abhiyan Rajasthan (JSA Rajasthan), a statewide network of organizations and public health experts working on health issues, have expressed deep concern regarding this delay in framing and notification of the rules for the Act and has questioned the government’s intent to implement the Act in its true spirit.
The Abhiyan has demanded that the process be expedited and the rules be framed at the earliest, as in the absence of it the Act remains only on paper and people continue to remain deprived of the various rights and provisions stipulated under it.
Memorandum calls for faster implementation of rules
'The state is going to polls and the model code of conduct for polls is likely to be implemented soon. So we demand the government to frame and notify the rules before the announcement of polls in the state,' said the memorandum.
The Act was passed in the Rajasthan legislative assembly on 21st March 2023 and received the Governor’s assent on 12 April 2023 but the rules of the Act are yet to be framed and notified.
No progress in framing the rules
A high-level committee under the Chairpersonship of Dr. S.K.Sarin, Director, Institute of Liver and Biliary Science was constituted by the government in July this year to frame the rules, yet there’s been no progress in this regard.
Notably, doctors in the state from the private sector had launched protests after the Bill was introduced on March 21, hampering access to healthcare and the government had to sign an MoU with private hospitals under which the smaller hospitals have been exempted from the provisions of the bill.
