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In the morning, the Left Front committee met to discuss the fate of the Bill and decided to send it to the select committee. Left Front chairman Biman Bose announced the decision of the Front in the afternoon.
But, by then, the Bill was already placed in the House for passage. Earlier, the Bill was sent to the Assembly standing committee on health, which had suggested several amendments before its passage.
The Bill was being opposed by a section of doctors who demanded changes. Among the nine LF constituents, Forward Bloc was against the passage of the Bill and was supported by the RSP. Both pressed Bose to stall the move initiated by Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra, saying the Bill’s passage will prove the Left Front government failed to provide healthcare system in rural Bengal for the past 32 years.
The Bill is aimed at meeting the deficiency in healthcare in rural areas, where many of the doctors’ posts are lying vacant.
The issue was discussed in a meeting between the CPM and the Bloc where Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was present along with health minister. Bloc sources said the CM had also agreed the Bill could be stalled.
LF sources said the decision on Wednesday to stall the Bill was not properly communicated to the health minister.
Mishra said before being informed about the decision to stall the Bill, he had already delivered his reply to the debate on it. “I had no option,” the health minister said.
In the evening, after the House was adjourned for nearly 20 minutes, the Bill was passed with all the amendments recommended by the standing committee. The Bill would be sent to the President for consent.
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The Rural Medical Practitioners Bill (WB) seems to be part of National Rural Health Mission initiated by Central government. The legislation seeks to introduce a short-term diploma course in medicines to prepare rural medical practitioners. How such medical practitioners can replace a qualified doctor, who normally gets a few years of training under experienced senior doctors. NRHM wants to implement Public Private Partnership (PPP) through which the Primary/Block/Taluk/District hospitals will be gradually converted into hospitals as expensive as private hospitals, if not more. Aim of such bills is to reduce whatever quality of medical care offered by government hospitals and ultimately force the people to private hospitals. The genuine solution is that a minimum of 10% of central budget is to be alloted to health care system, open more medical colleges and hospitals and offer free medical care to people with qualified doctors. Otherwise it is denial of health care to people.
Rural health centers are badly suffering for lack of doctors.Normally, graduate doctors,definitely not all, are reluctant to go to village.So the specially trained undergraduate doctors for rural health sevice as proposed by govt and a bill to this effect has also been passed in assembly might help the rural people better than now.It's a welcome move atleast in the sense something is better than nothing.