Days after the new blood bank rule raked up controversy, the Mizoram government has rubbished the allegations that the new rule was an attempt to restrict private hospitals and patients from obtaining blood from government-run blood banks.

The government on Monday announced a new rule according to which no private hospital or individual will be allowed to get blood from government blood banks without permission from hospital and medical education director.

The move was seen by Opposition Congress and some organisations as an attempt to restrict private hospitals by the government in its bid to force them to implement the state healthcare scheme.

According to an official, the state health department on Friday issued a release refuting the allegations as “baseless”.

He said the health department, in its release, stated that the new rule was introduced to streamline distribution of blood bags from government blood banks in a safer and systematic way because the old rule, which allowed blood bank staff to directly issue blood, was medically unsafe and harmful.

The new rule was safer and more hygienic, the official said, quoting the release.

He said the government had also made some changes in the new rule according to which permission can be obtained from medical superintendent for getting blood during office hours and from medical officer or an on call doctor or from casualty department during holidays.