Doctors hold stir at Soudha, get support from oppn leaders

Private medical professionals, under the banner of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), staged a protest at a makeshift tent near the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha on Monday.

Around 15,000 medical practitioners from various districts urged the government to refrain from tabling the bill as the proposed amendments were detrimental to the interests of private doctors.

The government was trying to establish another agency in the name of grievance redressal committee when there were already agencies like the medical council and consumer courts. They opposed the provisions for imprisonment of medical practitioners. They expressed their reservation  to capping the rates, as the doctors were charging as per the facilities offered.

They said they were open to capping prices for those below the poverty line. A delegation of five office bearers headed by IMA state president Dr H N Ravindranath met Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and discussed their concerns with him, urging him to defer tabling of the bill.

Ravindranath said the chief minister told them that the tabling of the bill could not be deferred. But Siddaramaiah promised to consider some of the demands, he said.  

However, the government was adamant about establishing the grievance redressal committee.

Leader of the Opposition in the Council K S Eshwarappa, former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar slammed the government, while addressing the doctors. They promised that they would not allow the passage of the Bill.