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Bengal

Bill passed to make CMOHs of Bengal's health districts hospital licensing authority

KOLKATA: The West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Amendment Bill 2022 was passed at the state assembly on Wednesday giving the Chief Medical officer of Health (CMOHs) of all the health districts the additional power of licensing authority.

Minister of state for Health Chandrima Bhattacharjee while tabling the Bill said that the additional power will be of great help to the common people with the decentralization of power of the CMOH.

The Bill was passed through voice vote after Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs staged a walk out while Minister of state for Health Chandrima Bhattacharjee began her reply speech to the Bill being critical of the Left Front government for neglecting the health sector.

"The Left and the BJP (Bam and Ram) have become synonymous. The BJP have never come to power in the state and I am speaking of the negligence of the Left in the health sector before 2011 and they (BJP) do not have the patience to hear," she said.

The CMOH has been the registering authority since 2017 when an amendment was brought to the Bill which was introduced for the first time in 2010. Now he (CMOH) will also be the licensing authority in their respective Health districts, when the Bill will become a legislation.

Presently, there are 28 health districts across the state. During the Left rule before 2011 there were 19 districts.

"Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is in charge of the Health department has formed 28 health districts in 2012, a year after coming to power for the first time with the aim to ensure that health benefits reach right at the grassroot level," Bhattacharjee said.

The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission was formed through the amendment West Bengal Clinical Establishments Act of 2010 for regulating the private hospitals across the state and put a leash on exorbitant treatment charges levied by a section of hospitals on patients.

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