The Code of Ethics for Doctors further says that a doctor shall help the ill to regain their health and the healthy to preserve theirs. A doctor shall base his practice on respect for fundamental human rights, and on truth and justice in relations with patients and to society. The ethics has evolved in the due course of history of mankind that respects right to life, which has been rendered meaningless without right to health until now. Providing right to health is thus a step forward, and now doctors must not press for moving two steps backward through their agitation against the right while they have been seen already serving the people and most commendably at the cost of their lives that we have witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic amidst all sorts of hurdles including the government’s inability and apathy by not providing them even the promised physical and financial protection them and their families. Doctor’s agitation in Rajasthan is thus a matter of serious concern that we need to look into to know how and why we have landed into such an impasse.

A little more background would give more insight into the regressive political resistance to the right to health legislation. Private lobbies aiming profiteering have always been working against the public good that is too obvious to need any proof. It is why a group in the country, presently led by the BJP ruling the country, has been doing everything to keep public expenditure low in the healthcare sector and helping the private healthcare facilities to prosper. Modi government has even a plan to sell out the district hospitals, the only accessible healthcare facilities for common people, to private corporate houses. We have already seen how the Centre unsuccessfully tried to help private hospitals and companies to make exorbitant profits in vaccination programme during the pandemic. Since 2021, the Centre has been allowing increase in prices of the essential drugs above 10 per cent every year, which would be 12.12 per cent from April 1, 2023. In the midst of joblessness, declining income, increasing prices of even food and high inflation, the common people have been rendered unprotected, and the ever rising healthcare cost has become unaffordable for them.

Since the policies of the BJP led Centre is clearly in support of the private as against the public good, state BJP leaderships are also supposed to follow the suit. BJP has never worked for or intend to initiate action to bring ‘right to health’ legislation, either in states they have been ruling or at the Centre. No wonder, when the Congress led government in Rajasthan brought this Bill in the Legislative Assembly, the opposition BJP protested it in the house. Clearly, the issue has a political angle in addition to profiteering lobbies working against public good.

It should also be noted that all the professional communities are also sharply divided in their political affiliation, according to their level of association with the private or public interests. The Doctors’ agitation in Rajasthan clearly shows this since they have been demanding withdrawal of the very right to health of the people from behind the shield of certain provisions of the act that is allegedly harmful for them and the private hospitals. The Government of Rajasthan on the other hand has said if there are problems with the bill, they are ready to hold discussion but the bill won’t be taken back. At any cost, we will not take back the legislation, the Minster of Health has categorically said. Agitating doctors’ association does not want this and only withdrawal of the right to health would satisfy them.

The right to health legislation says that free healthcare services, including consultation, drugs, diagnostics, emergency transport, procedure and emergency care will be provided at all public health institutions and select private facilities subject to conditions specified in the rules which will be formulated in due course.

We all know that legislations provide a framework for rules and regulations to be framed for implementation. Therefore, the Doctor’s agitation is premature since they are chiefly raising issues of rules and regulations that are still not codified. The fear of harm from a rule or regulation that still does not exist does not give they any right to demand the very withdrawal of the legislation giving the common people the right to health.

The ongoing agitation by private doctors demanding rollback of the bill is most likely to continue that has affected the functioning of the private healthcare facilities. Dr Vijay Kapoor, the Secretary of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Society has said that they have objections to the provision of emergency services in the present form of the legislation.

It should be noted that the right to health legislation relates to government hospitals and only at select private hospitals. Patients are made entitled to have emergency treatment and care for accidental emergencies without payment of any fee or charges. In case or medico-legal nature, the legislation says that no public or private hospital can delay treatment merely on the grounds of receiving police clearance. As for the cost to be incurred by the hospitals, they are to be reimbursed by the government, a provision that the agitating private doctors are objecting fearing delay in payments. Since the issues raised by the agitating doctors relates to the rules and regulation and operational problem of the future, for which the modalities are to be decided in future, the rollback demand of the present legislation is premature.

On March 27, thousands of doctors attached to government and private hospitals, paramedics and health professionals staged protest demonstration describing the legislation ‘draconian’ and demanding withdrawal with immediate effect, nothing less than that even when government has promised that they are ready to address particular concerns if the doctors have any, while urging them to call off their agitation in favour of protection of the public health that is to be provided free of cost.

Doctors do have certain privileges under law and the state still need to provide further resources and support to them to better serve the people, but why should they demand that people should not have right to health? In addition to unknowns unfounded fear there seems to be some hidden forces behind it who have been working for private profitmaking against the public good.

A provision that is resisted is worth noting which relates to the local level monitoring mechanism of the health facilities. The Congress government in Rajasthan has brought this provision in light of experience of rampant corruption in government schemes, including in PM Narendra Modi’s favourite Ayushman Bhart health insurance scheme, in which many private hospitals reportedly withdrew public money by fraudulent means.

Agitating doctors must not fall prey to the profiteering lobbies that have always been working in the country against ‘right to health’ for the people. The real issues concerning doctors and health workers must be addressed while framing of rules and regulation in due course of implementation of the legislation while putting firm brake pro-profiteering lobbies.