  We investigate neutrinoless double beta ($0\nu\beta\beta$) decay rates in
minimal left-right symmetric models in presence of relatively light
right-handed neutrinos. By use of an effective field theory approach, we
systematically include all contributions in the model as well as the dependence
of the decay amplitude on the masses of right-handed neutrinos. In type-I and
type-II seesaw scenarios, we analyze the impact of right-handed neutrinos
heavier than about 10 MeV, showing that this effect can lead to a detection of
$0\nu\beta\beta$ decay in the next-generation experiments even for the normal
hierarchy and a relatively large right-handed scale set by the mass of
hypothetical right-handed gauge bosons. Finally, we comment on a possible
connection between light right-handed neutrinos and the strong CP problem.
