Explanation:

Rajasthan government has prepared a draft of the country’s first Right to Health Law.

The law defines rights of patients, their attendants and healthcare providers and provides for a mechanism to redress grievances of the stakeholders.

The bill will be introduced in the budget session of the state assembly, likely to start in March, after getting an approval of the state cabinet.

A final draft will be prepared for cabinet consideration after consulting all stakeholders.

Rajasthan chief minister had in 2021 budget announced that the state will provide right to health to all.

He had also announced universal healthcare scheme worth ?3,500 crore, under which every family in the state would get medical insurance benefits up to ?5 lakh.

According to officials, the right to health guarantees certain rights to people in government and private health institutions.

Another highlight of the proposed bill is human resource management in every government medical institution in urban and rural areas by way of health worker patient ratio.

It is usually seen that health staff is in excess in urban areas and inadequate in rural areas. The law will ensure that there is similarity of health staff vis-à-vis patients and the posts.

For this, a transfer and posting policy would come into force, which would ensure that healthcare workers will have to work in rural areas.

A similar policy is in place in Tamil Nadu since 1991, and has been successful in improving rural healthcare.