IMA, medical bodies in Rajasthan withdraw boycott of state govt's health scheme

The Indian Medical Association in Rajasthan has withdrawn its statewide boycott of the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme after a meeting with state government officials to address various concerns.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) Rajasthan and other medical organisations on Wednesday withdrew their statewide boycott of the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme (RGHS) after a meeting with state government officials over issues related to the scheme.

A delegation of doctors met Health Minister Gajendra Singh, Additional Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister, Akhil Arora, Principal Secretary Medical and Health Gayatri Rathore and held detailed discussions on various issues concerning the RGHS scheme.

According to a statement issued by the IMA Rajasthan unit, the discussions focused on implementation of the standard operating procedure (SOP) with necessary amendments, fixing timelines for operational processes, transparency in query and penalty procedures and pending payments to hospitals.

The statement said that the minister and senior officials directed the RGHS administration to issue the revised SOP within 10 days and incorporate suggestions submitted by medical organisations.

Officials also assured that maximum pending dues to hospitals would be released at the earliest and a transparent timeline for future payments would be established, it said.

The meeting also decided to constitute a joint committee comprising RGHS officials and representatives nominated by the IMA to address operational issues and suggest improvements regularly.

IMA Rajasthan president Dr Mahesh Sharma and secretary Dr N K Agrawal said the decision to withdraw the boycott was taken in view of the positive assurances and concrete steps initiated by the government.

''All private hospitals and medical institutions across the state will resume RGHS services,'' the statement said.