14 March,2011 07:12 AM IST | | Priyanjali Ghose
Plan to mount pressure on the Centre to roll back proposed 5 per cent service tax on healthcare in the budget falls apart as doctors across India fail to rally in numbers
Unable to coordinate with doctors across the country at a short notice, organisers spearheading Misery Day on March 12 failed to manage a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. However, doctors who did gather from various parts of the country marched towards their respective state governor's house and submitted their petition against the proposed tax hike in the health budget.
Futile: The doctors' petition also included a proposal to add 20 lakh more
hospital beds and roll back customs duty on implants and equipment for
at least 10 years. Representation Pic
"The plan was to meet the Finance minister, but since it was sudden, we could not gather doctors in large numbers. And there was no point in going individually to the Finanace Minister)," said P H Mishra, Indian
Spinal Injury Center, Delhi. However, he added that the petitions from all across the country have reached the minister's office and they would seek an appointment soon. On March 10, MiD DAY reported that the medical fraternity from across the country would observe March 12 as Misery Day, after the Union government proposed a 5 per cent service tax on healthcare in the budget.
The doctors also requested every citizen to buy a 50-paisa envelope from the post office and send it
to the finance minister on Misery Day. The petition included removal of service tax on health including the 10 per cent service tax on health insurance. A proposal to add 20 lakh more hospital beds and a request to remove customs duty on implants and equipment for at least ten years were also included in the petition. Prem Nair from Amritha Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi, said nearly 1,500 doctors in Kerala rallied and submitted envelopes at the governor's office to observe the Misery Day.u00a0
"We are hoping to hear that tax is eventually rolled back. We are coordinating with doctors in Delhi and have sent emails and letters to the minister's office. So far, we have not heard from the government, but are hoping
to get a response in two or three days," said Nair.Alexander Thomas, Director and CEO of Bangalore Baptist Hospital, said that he was one amongst the three doctors who had had met the finance minister on March 7.
He, however, said there were no such plans to meet Mukherjee on March 12. "A petition was handed over to the state governor on March 12. Rallies and gatherings were organised all over the country on that day. "We will wait till March 22 to approach the finance minister again as he has promised in our previous meeting to make changes in the proposal," said the director and CEO of Bangalore Baptist Hospital.
