Addressing the state assembly session this Friday, Rajasthan health minister Kalicharan Saraf criticized opposition leaders for doubting his ‘intensions’. Though it was Congress that launched ‘free diagnostic test’ and ‘free medicine’ schemes in 2012, Saraf believes the policies flourished in BJP regime. Lately, many Congress leaders accused Raje government for launching ‘Bhamashah Swasthya Bima Yojana’, in an attempt to roll back ‘freebies’ launched by Congress earlier. Perturbed by the allegations, Saraf was quick to defend the policy implementation of his government.
“In reality, our government has implemented these schemes far better than the Congress government”, he said. We can’t help but agree with this sentiment.
Gehlot government’s free medicine policy conjured a storm in the election year. CM Raje accusing the Congress high command of distributing ‘poison’ in the name of medicines because there were reports of hospitals distributing fungal-infected drips in state. When Raje came to power in 2013, she directed health officials to implement a 60-day plan to introduce qualitative changes in policy delivery. A separate committee was set under additional chief secretary to remove the shortcomings of Gehlot’s schemes and to improve their implementation.
Saraf Slams Opposition with Statistics
According to Saraf, the former Congress government had spent just Rs 554 crores on medicines till November 30, 2013. Compared to it, the ruling BJP government spent double the amount that is Rs 1,193 crores on free medicine and hospitals so far. The government states approximately 14.22 crore patients were benefitted from his scheme during Congress regimen. However, in the current government’s tenure, around 28.24 crore patients were benefitted and the number is constantly on the rise since then.
Having said this, he further mentioned that the ex-Congress government spent Rs 1.66 crore on diagnostic tests whereas under BJP government Rs. 12.37 crores were spent. On an average, around one lakh patients availed the benefits of these ‘free medicine and treatment’ scheme on a daily basis.
Not to mention, the government has introduced appropriate reforms to boost the health industry. Currently, the government is planning to open 20 urban PHCs in collaboration with private organizations. The government has constituted a recruitment board under the principal secretary of medical department to handle government recruitment process.
Additionally, 500 more seats will be added in the medical colleges to create more doctors in future. Saraf has increased the age limit for recruitment of assistant professors in medical college, from 42 years to 45 years. He has made it mandatory for the PG students in medical college to complete senior residency.
Minister Saraf believes these steps will remove the existing shortcomings in medical education and help improve medical conditions in Rajasthan.
