BENGALURU: Only three meetings were conducted for the drafting of the new Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act and out of the 30-member drafting committee, majority are private hospital associations. Self-regulation is no regulation, said Karnataka Janarogya Chaluvali (KJC) in a public meeting here on Friday.
Another issue is that even committee members are not aware of the final draft of the Act. “We aren’t aware of the final draft of the recommendations given to the National Law School of India University (NLSIU). We aren’t sure if NLSIU is only taking care of legal jargon in the Act or is giving its opinion too,” said Vinay Sreenivasa, member of Alternative Law Forum who was part of two meetings.
Every amendment proposed has differing opinions from government, NLSIU, Indian Medical Association and other private hospital interest groups, and public health activist groups like KJC.
The response from NLSIU, (as quoted by KJC), said, “Logically, it can’t be done as government would typically become regulator as well as service provider. Therefore, issue is not taken up for amendment purpose.”