Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday inaugurated a private hospital and expressed displeasure at the ongoing protests by private hospital owners against the Right to Health Bill in Jodhpur.
Gehlot said the medical profession is a service and not a means of making money. “But since they are making money, they do not want this Bill. They should not do so,” he said.
The CM further said that healthcare and education have been placed under the category of service, not a business, in the Constitution. Trusts or societies should be formed for the management of these institutions, and the money earned should be reinvested in those trusts or societies, he said.
“It is a different matter that they would be using this money elsewhere. But at least they (private hospitals) should come forward and support the government in its vision,” Gehlot said, referring to the Right to Health Bill proposed to be tabled in the Assembly soon. The owners and doctors of private hospitals in the state have been protesting this Bill.
The chief minister reminded private hospital owners of their responsibilities, saying that any accident victim from any surrounding district who comes to private hospitals should be treated immediately and that the state government would pay for the treatment.
Gehlot said in reference to social security schemes that his government would soon come up with a Bill on social security and that he has appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enact a national law on social security.
“There is a dire need for a uniform law in the country for social security. This will help provide needy people with a pension. The state government will also contribute its share in it,” said CM Gehlot.
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