Maharashtra Assembly refers private healthcare regulation bill to joint select committee
The Maharashtra State Legislative Assembly in Mumbai has unanimously referred the proposed Maharashtra Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Bill, 2026, to a 21-member joint select committee of both Houses of the state legislature. The decision was reached after several MLAs raised demands to send the bill for further review, with the newly appointed committee now tasked with submitting its recommendations before the end of the state legislature's ongoing winter session.
The demand to refer the legislation to the joint select committee was formally moved by a group of prominent MLAs. These legislators include Aslam Shaikh, Vijay Wadettiwar, Amin Patel, Nana Patole, Vikas Thackeray, Jyoti Gaikwad, Dr Vishwajit Kadam, Sajid Pathan, Hemant Ogle, Ramdas Masram, Amit Zhanak, and Dr Nitin Raut.
Public Health Minister Prakash Abitkar had introduced the regulatory bill last week as part of an effort to overhaul the state's existing healthcare regulations. The new bill is designed to replace the decades-old Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1949. While the previous law focused primarily on nursing homes and maternity homes, the new 2026 bill significantly expands the scope of state regulation.
Under the proposed framework, the law's ambit will extend to a wide range of private healthcare facilities. This includes private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres, pathology laboratories, and day-care centres. However, the bill specifically exempts all government-run hospitals from its regulatory requirements, focusing its rules entirely on private establishments.
According to Minister Abitkar, the primary goal of the bill is to establish a unified regulatory framework for the private healthcare sector. The legislation seeks to bring greater transparency and accountability to private medical care. To achieve this, it mandates registration for all private clinical establishments and prescribes minimum standards for both infrastructure and staffing.
Furthermore, the bill introduces measures to protect patients, including a requirement for private facilities to display their treatment charges clearly. It also proposes the introduction of a formal charter of patients' rights to safeguard those seeking medical care in the state.
