Jaipur: Rajasthan’s cashless medicine network under the Rajasthan Government Health Scheme (RGHS) is headed for disruption from Wednesday, with the Rajasthan Alliance of Hospital Associations (RAHA) Tuesday announcing suspension of cashless medicine distribution at OPD pharmacies in private hospitals across the state over unpaid dues.Questioned about the development, Health minister Gajendra Singh Khimsar, however, said Tuesday he had no knowledge of RAHA’s decision to halt service delivery under the scheme.Responding to reporters at a press conference at SMS Medical College during a World TB Day event, Khimsar said he had not been briefed on the matter. “I am not aware of it; my officials have not told me. I will check with them and resolve the issue,” he said.Reacting to the minister’s statement, a RAHA office-bearer told TOI that its representatives met with officials of the Rajasthan State Health Assurance Agency – the govt agency that manages the cashless medicine scheme – and informed them through a formal letter that cashless medicine facilities at RGHS OPD pharmacies in private hospitals would be suspended from 8am Wednesday if immediate relief was not provided on pending payments.This decision, the office-bearer said, had been taken under pressing circumstances owing to delays in payments by the govt for the past several months, which had made it difficult for private hospitals and OPD pharmacies to continue cashless medicine distribution for both financial and operational reasons.The health minister’s ignorance of these critical issues lays bare a sharp disconnect at the top of Rajasthan’s health administration, even as beneficiaries face the imminent prospect of losing access to free medicines under a flagship govt-backed scheme.It did not, however, stop Khimsar from signalling a major overhaul of RGHS, saying the state would move the scheme to an insurance-based model on the lines of the Mukhyamantri Ayushman Arogya Yojana. He said the change was meant to crack down on corruption and abuse. “I know many people who misuse the scheme will not like it, but this is what we are going to do in the coming days,” he said.Khimsar also claimed the RGHS scheme had been bleeding money since before the health department took control of it from the finance department in 2025, insisting the state govt had since cut losses sharply. “We have reduced losses under RGHS by Rs 700 crore since we took over the scheme. We will not tolerate losses,” he said.The minister’s remarks came at a politically delicate moment, when the govt seems to be trying to defend the financial health of the very scheme that has failed to clear payments to private healthcare providers.
