Proposed draft rules to the Rajasthan Right to Health Act, 2022
The Rajasthan Right to Health Act, 2022 (‘RTH Act / Act’) provides for various important issues to be regulated by way of rules made under the Act. It also contains several provisions that require further clarification. While a critical analysis of the parent legislation may be found here, Vidhi has also put together draft rules intended to:
(a) clarify the scope of the right to health recognised in the Act;
(b) provide pathways to optimise processes under the Act as optimally as possible, within the constraints of the parent provisions;
(c) provide explanations to the rights, powers, and duties recognised in the RTH Act;
(d) counterbalance issues that might arise in the administration of the Act on account of the perceived lack of neutrality and propriety of officials who have been given certain powers and duties under the Act;
(e) add crucial detail to the grievance redressal mechanism pertaining to the right to health.
This Note contains the proposed draft rules, along with, where necessary, an explanation of the intent behind a particular rule, and its limitations or potential insufficiencies. The proposed rules have been framed through an independent process of research, analysis, and drafting.
We are grateful to other researchers, lawyers, activists, and professionals mentioned below, whose inputs have helped us shape this document:
The authors had attended a consultation meeting in Jaipur, Rajasthan on May 22, 2023, to discuss delegated legislation that could be potentially proposed under the RTH Act. The following were the attendees of this meeting:
- Anand Grover, Lawyers Collective
- Chhaya Pachauli, Prayas
- Dr Dhvani Mehta, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
- Dr Himanshu Bhushan, National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC)
- Kavita Srivastava, People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL)
- Khushboo Sharma, Institute of Development Studies (IDS) Jaipur
- Kim D’Souza, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
- Dr Mohankumar S., IDS Jaipur
- Dr Narendra Gupta, Prayas
- Nikhil Dey, Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) and SR Abhiyan
- Nikita Puri, IDS Jaipur
- Pallavi Gupta, Health Systems Transformation Platform (HSTP)
- Dr Pavitra Mohan, Basic HealthCare Services
- Prem Kumar, IDS Jaipur
- Priyam Lizmary Cherian, Law and Policy Consultant
- Dr Rajendra Bhalavat
- Rakshita Swamy, Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research (SAFAR)
- Rakshita Swamy, Social Accountability Forum for Action and Research (SAFAR) and SR Abhiyan
- Dr Sharad Iyengar, Action Research and Training for Health (ARTH)
- Shreyashi Ray, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy
- Dr Tej Prakash Sinha, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi
- Dr Varinder Jain, IDS Jaipur
The authors had online meetings with Manohar Agnani, public health professional and retired IAS officer, and Prashanth N. Srinivas, Director, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru; in which these draft rules formed part of the meeting agenda.
These rules are a working draft, and the authors welcome further comments, suggestions, and consultation, which can be shared via email [dhvani.mehta@vidhilegalpolicy.in]. The errors, if any, rest with the authors.
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About the Authors
Dr. Dhvani Mehta {B.L.S. LL.B. (University of Mumbai); BCL, D.Phil (Oxon)} is a Co-Founder at Vidhi and Lead, Health. She has worked specifically on research projects on environmental clearances, the National Green Tribunal, organ transplant laws, end of life care, and pharmaceutical and medical device regulation. She has appeared in the Supreme Court of India in petitions filed by Vidhi on advance medical directives and discrimination against persons affected by leprosy. She has authored chapters on the implementation of environmental judgments and healthcare corruption in India. Dhvani read for a doctoral degree at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, where she was Chairperson of Oxford Pro Bono Publico and an editor of the Oxford Human Rights Hub blog. Her doctoral thesis explores the idea of an environmental rule of law in India and was cited by the Supreme Court of India.
Kim D’Souza is a Senior Resident Fellow at Vidhi. She is currently working on research relating to public health legislation. Prior to Vidhi, Kim worked in real estate and conveyancing law and general corporate advisory for six years, as well as advising organizations in the social sector on contracts and regulatory compliance. She has an LL.B. from Government Law College, Mumbai, and a Bachelor’s in Life Sciences and Biochemistry from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
Shreyashi is a Research Fellow at Vidhi, and works in the area of public health. Her interests include public health, gender & sexuality, mental health, labour, and migration. She completed her B.A., LL.B. (Hons.) from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata in 2016. Prior to joining Vidhi, she was engaged as a consultant to the District Administration, Ranchi. She worked on public health, nutrition, and education in mining-affected and other under-served areas of the district. As part of this engagement, she drafted the Guidelines on COVID-19 Preparedness and Control in Ranchi - and coordinated planning and implementation of health and social support mechanisms (domestic violence, mental health, migrant workers’ rights) during the pandemic. Apart from this, she has close to three years' experience as a researcher on open science and knowledge sharing with the Centre for Innovation, Intellectual Property and Competition at National Law University, Delhi. She co-authored the Open Science India Report, which seeks to guide government/ institutional policies for implementation of open science practices and inclusive research & knowledge ecosystems, especially in the Indian context.
