Centre approves 25% increase in security at all central government hospitals

Centre approves 25% increase in security at all central government hospitals

Doctors nationwide are calling for the swift enactment of a special law to address violence against healthcare personnel.

Amid protests by resident doctors calling for a central law following the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Hospital, the health ministry has approved a 25 percent increase in security at all central government hospitals.

In addition to standard security protocols, the deployment of marshals will be approved based on individual requests from government hospitals after they conduct their security assessments, said officials.

Enacting a central law based on the RG Kar case will not make a significant difference, as the alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor at the Kolkata facility was not a case of patient-doctor violence, sources quoted by PTI said.

They further said that 26 states and Union territories including West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka, and Kerala have enacted laws to protect healthcare personnel. In all these states, these offenses are cognisable and non-bailable.

‘So, bringing in an ordinance or even a central law, that too based on the RG Kar case which was not a patient-doctor violence incident, will not make any huge difference,’ an official source added.

The officials added they have met with several Residents' Doctors' Associations to explain these points. Additionally, a committee chaired by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) will be formed to review various aspects of hospital security and facilities for residents, including duty rooms, working hours and conditions, and canteen services.

‘Hospitals being public facilities cannot be turned into a fortress. We have urged the doctors to call off their strike because patient care is getting affected,’ the official source said.

Doctors nationwide are calling for the swift enactment of a special law to address violence against healthcare personnel and for enhanced safety protocols to ensure a secure working environment in medical facilities.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has also appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘benign’ intervention to address their demands, which include a central law to combat violence against healthcare workers and the designation of hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security measures.