The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has urged Union Health Minister J P Nadda seeking enactment of a special central law at preventing attacks and violence against doctors. The IMA said that such legislation would serve as a deterrent, along with the need to designate hospitals as safe zones.
The IMA's demands, which include specific security measures, come in response to protests and strikes by resident doctors at government hospitals nationwide on Monday. The demonstrations were sparked by the recent rape and murder of a postgraduate trainee in Kolkata, highlighting concerns about the safety of medical staff in their workplace.
The Association stated that while 25 states have laws addressing attacks on doctors and hospitals, these laws are largely ineffective and fail to provide the intended deterrent effect. "The absence of a special central enactment is one of the reasons. We kindly request you to reconsider introducing the Draft Legislation "The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019, incorporating the amendments in the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, approved and passed by the Parliament in Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020," the IMA said.
The 2019 bill proposed by the Health Ministry to address violence against doctors and healthcare professionals was sidelined after the Home Ministry argued that a separate law was unnecessary. The draft bill included provisions for imposing a prison sentence of up to 10 years for individuals who assault on-duty doctors and healthcare workers.
"This crime is an index of the anarchy and insecurity prevailing in the campus. IMA HQs mourns the death of this precious daughter of India and condemns the existing situations that enabled this crime to be committed with impunity inside the campus.