Source: ndtv.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi: <\/strong>The Union Health Ministry has \nentrusted an eight-member sub-committee with the task of drafting a \ncentral law to check violence against doctors and other medical \nprofessionals, a long-standing demand of the medical fraternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sub-committee has been directed to draft the law by July 17, officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n panel comprises officials from the Health Ministry and representatives \nfrom the Medical Council of India, Indian Medical Association (IMA), \nAIIMS RDA among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An experienced person from the Bureau of \nPolice Research and Development is likely to be nominated for assisting \nthe panel in drafting the law, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sub-committee was \nconstituted after a 10-member panel set up by the Health Ministry to \nexamine the “pros and cons” of bringing such a central legislation held \nits meeting last week and mulled ways to strengthen security at medical \nestablishments across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The members of the \nsub-committee have been requested to carry out the drafting work over \nnext one week. They will hold a meeting on July 17 for submitting the \ndraft legislation. The sub-committee shall submit the draft legislation \nto the (10-member) Committee, which shall hold its next meeting on July \n22 to consider the draft legislation,” the minutes of the meeting held \non July 10 stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposed central legislation will have \nuniform application and impact across the country and will be more \neffective in protecting the doctors, paramedics and clinical \nestablishments, the minutes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The meeting held on July 10 was \nattended by officials of the Home Ministry, Legal Affairs Department, \nHealth Ministry, Medical Council of India, various doctors’ \nassociations, and medical superintendents of AIIMS and RML Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\n participants brought out the present day situation wherein many \nincidents of assault on doctors on duty and clinical establishments are \ncoming to the fore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They noted \nthat such incidents have become a matter of routine and are recurrent in\n nature, and are happening in both government and private \nestablishments, the minutes of the meeting said. It was also noted that 18 states have \nenacted their own laws to prevent such incidents, but the medical \npractitioners are not satisfied with the implementation of the existing \nprovisions under the State Acts and want more stringent provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A\n representative of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), who attended the \nmeeting, said his ministry put forth that the Indian Penal Code is a \ngeneral and comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive aspects\n of criminal law, and the Code of Criminal Procedure is the main \nlegislation on the procedure of administration of substantive criminal \nlaw in India, irrespective of caste, creed and category of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He\n also said that the Ministry of Health should bring a stand-alone \nlegislation to make specific provisions exclusively for doctors, \nparamedics and clinical establishments,” the note stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last \nmonth, the IMA held a nationwide protest following assault on doctors at\n the NRS Medical College in Kolkata and demanded the enactment of a \ncentral law to check violence on medical professionals in hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding enactment of the law, saying it should have the provision of minimum seven-year jail sentence to violators. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Union\n Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had supported the demand for the central \nlaw and said such crimes should be made non-bailable. He had also \nwritten to all states, requesting the chief ministers to consider \nenacting specific legislation for protecting medical professionals from \nany form of violence, along with suggesting a model law proposed by the \nIMA.<\/p>\n
It was also \nobserved that several factors were contributing to incidents of assault \non health care providers like infrastructural gaps, weak security \napparatus in clinical establishments, delayed response by law enforcing \nagencies, insufficient facilities of counselling of attendants, \nunregulated entry of trespassers, lack of fear of stringent legal \nprovisions, overburdened doctors, breach of patient-doctor trust, lack \nof functional and robust grievance cells and legal protection of \ndoctors, paramedics etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n