Shimla, June 5 -- The patients coming to government hospitals in Himachal Pradesh will have to pay Rs.10 as consultation charges at the time of registration. According to a notification issued by the health department, the Rogi Kalyan Samities have been authorised to levy user charges on need basis to strengthen the services, like sanitation, hygiene and maintenance of infrastructure and equipment. "A consultation fee of Rs.10 will be charged from the patients at the time of registration," the notification said. So far, the registration had been free as no consultation fee was charged from the patients at the time of registration. Hitting out at the Congress government, led by chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, leader of Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, in a statement, said, "Sukhu's government has crossed all limits in imposing tax in the name of vyvastha parivartan. There is nothing left on which Sukhu's government has not imposed tax. This journey of the shulk sarkar that started with toilet tax, has now reached the toilet and washroom tax of patients admitted in hospitals." "This order is also anti-people and inhuman," said the former chief minister. "The government will have to withdraw it. The government believes in charging fees and not in providing facilities. There are no doctors in hospitals. X-ray machines are not working. There are no lab technicians," Thakur added....