Private hospitals in Kolkata have decided to seek a separate meeting with West Bengal’s newly appointed Health Minister, Sharadwat Mukherjee, to discuss the state government’s proposal mandating free treatment for a section of patients.
The proposal requires private hospitals that have received land or other facilities from the state government to provide free treatment to 10% of admitted (indoor) patients and 20% of outpatient (OPD) patients. The directive was discussed during meetings convened by the health department earlier this month.
Following a meeting on June 13, representatives of the Association of Hospitals of Eastern India (AHEI) said they support government welfare initiatives but need greater clarity on how the scheme will be implemented.
“We need more details regarding the requirement to reserve 10% of beds for free treatment. Our understanding is that even hospitals that did not receive land at concessional rates may be expected to earmark beds for patients referred by government hospitals. We support government schemes and will explore the best possible way to implement the proposal,” said AHEI president Rupak Barua.
He added that the association would request a separate discussion with the health minister before the scheme is rolled out.
Private healthcare providers have also raised operational concerns. Some hospital administrators sought clarification on how emergency cases would be handled if all regular beds were occupied and only the beds reserved for free treatment remained available. Others questioned whether hospitals that had not benefited from concessional land allotments would receive any support from the government despite being required to provide free services.
According to officials, the health department referred to Section 7 of the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Act, 2017. The provision states that clinical establishments that have received land or other benefits from the West Bengal government must offer completely free treatment to 10% of indoor patients and 20% of outdoor patients. Rule 20 under the Act specifies that the government will determine the modalities for implementing the free-treatment mechanism.
During the discussions, officials noted that several institutions, including Manipal Hospitals Salt Lake, Apollo Multispeciality Hospital, KPC Medical College and Hospital, Manipal Hospitals Dhakuria, and the Institute of Child Health, Kolkata, had received land at concessional rates. The minutes of the meeting also recorded that the Institute of Neurosciences Kolkata already provides 12% free beds under an agreement with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, while Islamia Hospital had received grant-in-aid support from the state government.
The health minister directed that all expenses related to the free indoor treatment programme including bed charges, doctors’ consultation fees, consumables, medicines, surgeries and associated costs must be borne entirely by hospitals under the provisions of the Act. Hospitals were also instructed to appoint dedicated facility managers for these services and ensure that free beds are distributed across different specialties.
Sources said that some private hospitals agreed in principle to provide free beds for patients referred by authorised health department officials, while others requested additional time to consult their management before taking a final decision.
