New Delhi: On Friday, about 3.5 lakh doctors of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) will participate in a nationwide protest demanding a central law dealing with violence against medicos.
IMA national president, Dr. JA Jayalal, said that in addition to its members, a number of organizations such as the Association of Physicians of India, the Association of Surgeons of India, the Medical Students Network, Junior Doctor Network will partake in the protest. Doctors in Bihar and central Kerala will close their clinics in the morning to push for the need for a central law against violence against doctors. In the evening, public interaction has been arranged to make a coordination team in each branch of IMA to stop such violence from taking place.
The IMA said in a statement, ‘We are deeply hurt to see increasing physical violence on doctors and healthcare professionals. It’s occurring day in and day out. The IMA is pressing for a central act against the violence.’
According to the statement, the Health Services Personnel and Clinical Establishment (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019, which sought to force a jail term of up to 10 years for assaulting on-duty doctors and other healthcare professionals was dismissed by the Home Ministry saying the special law was not feasible as health is a state subject.
As per the doctors’ body, ‘There are many central health laws such as the PCPNDT Act and the Clinical Establishment Act. Currently, 21 states have local laws, but what we need is a strong central law to protect doctors from violence.’
The IMA said that memorandums will be submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, senior ministers including home minister Amit Shah, for Friday’s protest. All branches of IMA would present memoranda to local authorities.
‘All the 1,700 branches are organizing events to mark the protest. Students’ wings are very active on the event as they are the ones most concerned about how the issue is tackled and addressed. We demand that the government enhances security features in every hospital and declare hospitals as protected zones,’ the statement said.
Regarding the issue of Yoga Guru Ramdev’s recent controversial comment, the IMA said a number of police complaints have been filed across the country against his ‘malafide statements, which, in our opinion, is against the interest of the citizens of the country.’
‘Accordingly, we have urged the prime minister to take appropriate action against him. We respect Ayurveda as part of our culture and ancient science and we never go out and criticize it… Our job is to ensure that they (patients) get treated in the best way possible. We are not interested in controversies,’ it said.
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