Jaipur: Doctors under the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Monday, staged a protest outside Swasthya Bhawan Monday over alleged irregularities in the Rajasthan Govt Health Scheme (RGHS) and demanded the release of Dr Sondev Bansal, arrested for allegedly submitting forged documents under RGHS on April 12.Doctors and healthcare workers joined the demonstration with banners, placards and slogans, calling attention to pending RGHS payments and what they described as serious flaws in the scheme. After the protest, senior Rajasthan State Health Assurance Authority officials invited representatives of doctors’ associations for talks. They met Principal Secretary (Health) Gayatri Rathore and raised the issue of pending RGHS bills. They also sought early action from the finance department on unpaid dues.IMA state president Dr Mahesh Sharma said, “The talks resulted only in verbal assurances.” IMA secretary Dr N.K. Agarwal said, “The boycott of RGHS would continue until written orders are issued and pending payments cleared.”Dr Agarwal said the dispute is not limited to unpaid claims but points to deeper structural problems in RGHS, including the absence of standard operating procedures, no fixed timelines for claim settlement or responses to queries, no clear rules for termination or de-empanelment of hospitals, and no appeal mechanism. He said the system is functioning on discretionary powers rather than transparent rules.IMA Rajasthan zonal secretary Dr Anurag Sharma said repeated discussions over the past eight to 10 months had produced no concrete outcome .Jaipur Medical Association secretary Dr Anurag Tomar demanded immediate justice for Dr Bansal and prompt action on all RGHS-related demands, warning that doctors would intensify their agitation if timely steps are not taken.
