Source: firstpost.com<\/p>\n\n\n\n
New Delhi:<\/strong> The union health ministry has entrusted an eight-member sub-committee with the task of drafting a central law to check violence against doctors and other medical professionals, a long-standing demand of the medical fraternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sub-committee has been directed to draft the law by 17 July, \nofficials said. The panel comprises officials from the Health Ministry \nand representatives from the Medical Council of India, Indian Medical \nAssociation (IMA), AIIMS RDA among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An experienced person from the Bureau of Police Research and \nDevelopment is likely to be nominated for assisting the panel in \ndrafting the law, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sub-committee was constituted after a 10-member panel set up by \nthe health ministry to examine the “pros and cons” of bringing such \ncentral legislation held its meeting last week and mulled ways to \nstrengthen security at medical establishments across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The members of the sub-committee have been requested to carry out \nthe drafting work over the next week. They will hold a meeting on 17 \nJuly for submitting the draft legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The sub-committee shall submit the draft legislation to the \n(10-member) Committee, which shall hold its next meeting on July 22 to \nconsider the draft legislation,” the minutes of the meeting held on 10 \nJuly stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The proposed central legislation will have uniform application and \nimpact across the country and will be more effective in protecting the \ndoctors, paramedics and clinical establishments, the minutes said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The meeting held on July 10 was attended by officials of the home \nministry, Legal Affairs Department, health ministry, Medical Council of \nIndia, various doctors’ associations, and medical superintendents of \nAIIMS and RML Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The participants brought out the \npresent day situation wherein many incidents of assault on doctors on \nduty and clinical establishments are coming to the fore. They noted that\n such incidents have become a matter of routine and are recurrent in \nnature, and are happening in both government and private establishments,\n the minutes of the meeting said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was also observed that several factors were contributing to \nincidents of assault on health care providers like infrastructural gaps,\n weak security apparatus in clinical establishments, delayed response by\n law enforcing agencies, insufficient facilities of counselling of \nattendants, unregulated entry of trespassers, lack of fear of stringent \nlegal provisions, overburdened doctors, breach of patient-doctor trust, \nlack of functional and robust grievance cells and legal protection of \ndoctors, paramedics etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was also noted that 18 states have enacted their own laws to \nprevent such incidents, but the medical practitioners are not satisfied \nwith the implementation of the existing provisions under the State Acts \nand want more stringent provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A representative of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), who attended \nthe meeting, said his ministry put forth that the Indian Penal Code is a\n general and comprehensive code intended to cover all substantive \naspects 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 also said that the Ministry of Health should bring stand-alone \nlegislation to make specific provisions exclusively for doctors, \nparamedics and clinical establishments,” the note stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last month, the IMA held a nationwide protest following an assault on\n doctors at the NRS Medical College in Kolkata and demanded the \nenactment of a central law to check violence on medical professionals in\n hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They also wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding enactment \nof the law, saying it should have the provision of minimum seven-year \njail sentence to violators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had supported the demand for the \ncentral law and said such crimes should be made non-bailable. He had \nalso written 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\n\n\n <\/p>\n