Monday will see about 25000 doctors from Mumbai joining the one-day nationwide bandh to protest against the Clinical Estabilishments Bill, which lays unrealistic minimal standards on infrastructure and staff in hospitals, nursing homes and clinics.
Officials of the IMA have said that public and major private hospitals will be functional while nursing homes and single-doc clinics will remain shut. Emergency services will not be affected.
“Only the outpatient department will remain shut. In case of emergency, our doctors will attend to patients,” said Dr Jayesh Lele, honorary secretary, IMA, Maharashtra.
In Mumbai, about 1,600 nursing homes are run by doctors who are IMA members. Additionally, about 30,000 doctors from all over the state will join the protest. “The Bill will escalate the cost of health care. To meet the criteria of the Bill, we need certain infrastructure, the cost of which will ultimately be borne by the patient,” said Dr Shivkumar Utture, financial secretary, IMA, Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors has also pledged their support to IMA. The doctors are also protesting against the proposed National Commission for Human Resources for Health Bill, 2011, claiming that the powers of the Medical Council of India, the Dental Council of India and the Nursing Council of India will get diluted.
“The Bill wants to hand over the powers of these councils in the hands of bureaucrats who do not even have a medical background,” said Dr Utture. They will wear black badges as a mark of protest against the two Bills.
Also read: Why the NCHRH bill is not a good idea
Private Medical Practitioners are more aggrieved about Clinical Establishment Bill. They are confusing themselves with NCHRH bill and they seem to be totally ignorant of Constitutional provisions of Health Education in Article 246/ Schedule VII and subject entry 66 of Union list and subject entry 25 of concurrent list and health education is deleted off state list under 11 about 35 years ago.