Health Bill protest: Jaipur Police use water cannons on doctors

In Rajasthan, Police used water cannons to disperse private doctors protesting against the Right to Health Bill as they tried to march towards the state assembly in Jaipur, where it was scheduled to be discussed on Tuesday. The Right to Health bill seeks to give the residents of the state the right to avail free healthcare services from hospitals and clinics, including private establishments. Doctors who run private clinics have been agitating against the bill claiming that it will increase “bureaucratic interference” over them. The protesting doctors, who gathered at the statue circle, were stopped by police as they tried to move towards the Assembly complex. When the doctors tried to cross the barricades, police used water cannons and mild force to stop them.

VIDEO | Police used water cannons to disperse the protesting doctors and members of several associations of doctors and hospitals against the Right To Health Bill in Jaipur. pic.twitter.com/AsBzoM6990

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 21, 2023

The doctors have claimed that the bill will the condition of the private hospitals will become like that of government-run hospitals. They further claimed that the doctor-patient relationship will be affected, district and state level committees will harass private doctors and the quality of treatment in private hospitals will be affected.