Kolkata, Dec 05: Facing criticism from doctors and the Opposition over the proposed West Bengal Rural Health Regulatory Authority Bill 2009 that provides for a three-year medical diploma course, state Health Minister Surya Kanta Mishra today defended the Bill saying it would help fill in the vacancies in rural healthcare system where qualified doctors were not willing to go.
The Bill, to be placed in the Assembly in the winter session, aims to create a pool of health care practitioners who would provide preliminary services to the rural people.
The doctors in the state had struck a cautionary note saying these medics should not be treated as full-fledged doctors.
Mishra said the three-year medical courses were not being introduced for the first time. Two other states have already done it and Bengal is trying to follow suit, he added.
–Agencies