In a first of its kind initiative in India, the West Bengal government on Friday passed the West Bengal Clinical Establishments (Registration, Regulation and Transparency) Bill, 2017 — aimed at making the private healthcare segment more transparent and regulate arbitrary billing.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee — who holds the health portfolio — thinks it will become a model for the rest of the country. "This Bill aims at bringing transparency, ending harassment of patients and taking steps to stop medical negligence," she said while presenting the ...