Central Law for violence against doctors NOT required! says SC-appointed Task Force

New Delhi: While the demand for the Central Protection Act has been a longstanding matter of the medical fraternity, the Supreme Court panel of eminent doctors, which was constituted to make an action plan, has given its opinion that there is no requirement.

The apex Court had constituted the National Task Force after taking suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder case of a postgraduate trainee doctor at Kolkata's RG Kar Medical College and Hospital. The 10 members of the task force include Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, Director General (Medical Services), Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Dr M Srinivas, AIIMS-Delhi Director and Dr Pratima Murthy, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru.

Submitting its report before the Supreme Court bench, the National Task Force (NTF), which was constituted to make an action plan for ensuring the safety of healthcare workers, has opined that there was no requirement for enacting a "separate Central law" to protect the doctors, The Hindu has reported.

According to the NTF, there are already enough legal provisions to ensure the safety of healthcare professionals. Further, the Task Force pointed out that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), could handle heinous offences against doctors and medical staff.

"It has been observed that State laws have adequate provisions to address day-to-day minor offences and serious offences can be addressed by BNS. A separate Central law to deal with offences against healthcare professionals is, therefore, not required," reasoned the National Task Force (NTF).

In the report, which was dealing with the question of whether the enforcement mechanism under the existing laws required strengthening, the NTF noted, "It is noted that 24 States have already enacted laws to address violence against healthcare professionals, whereby the terms ‘healthcare professional’ and ‘medical professional’ have also been defined. Two more States have already introduced their Bills in this regard. Most of the State laws cover minor offences and prescribe punishment for them. The major offences/heinous offences are adequately covered under BNS."

Also Read: RG Kar Case: 'Why Progress on safety measures so tardy?' SC pulls up WB Govt, seeks National Task Force's Report

Addressing the States where there were no specific laws to protect medical professionals, the NTF report mentioned that the BNS could be used to immediately address the acts of violence against them.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Supreme Court had directed the NTF to submit an interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months. The Apex Court had directed the NTF to give recommendations on the modalities to be followed across India to ensure the safety of senior and junior doctors employed across the medical colleges/hospitals in the country.

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, now submitting its report before the Supreme Court, the NTF has opined that there was no need to enact a "separate Central law" to protect the doctors. It also mentioned in the report that there were already enough laws to ensure the safety of doctors.

These recommendations given by the Task Force contradict the continuous pending demand from doctors to enact a Central Law to ensure their safety at the workplace.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry had set up a National Portal for stakeholders to submit suggestions on the safety, working conditions, and well-being of medical professionals in medical colleges and hospitals. Writing to NTF, earlier, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) had demanded a "deterrent Central law" to deal with the violence against doctors and hospitals and to declare hospitals as safe zones.

"The only preventive strategy that could be applied across the board and across all States is a deterrent Central law in statute… We, the medical professionals of India expect the National Task Force to live up to our expectations and instil confidence in the minds of the demoralised doctor community," IMA had mentioned in its letter directed to the NTF.

NTF's Report: 

Submitting its report, NTF has concluded that the government has taken "several initiatives" to strengthen the safety of women. It further opined that there were requirements to take steps to increase awareness about the government initiatives.

"The legal framework for preventing crimes against women has been strengthened and streamlined by adding a separate chapter in BNS. The new criminal laws include 37 Sections addressing crimes against women," highlighted the NTF, The Hindu has reported.

After receiving suggestions from 53 associations and 1,700 individuals/hospitals, the NTF divided the recommendations into three categories- short-term, medium-term and long-term. It also considered the information on facilities in more than 8,000 government healthcare establishments and private health institutes having more than 100 beds.

NTF suggested deploying trained security personnel in hospitals, coordination with local police, high walls, limited biometric access, night-shift safety protocols and transportation for medical staff, augmentation of mobile network, CCTVs, restrooms and toilets, internal complaints committee to act on sexual harassment complaints, etc.

The recommendations given by the NTF also include having "round-the-clock presence of a senior doctor in emergency service area."

In the report, the Task Force further opined that "Presence of senior residents in emergency units at night may also be ensured," and also expressed its opinion that FIRs, including zero FIRs, should be filed within six hours of the reporting of any act of violence committed against medical professionals at their workplaces.

Further, the NTF referred to the "poor communication" between medical professionals and patients' families as a major source of frustration, mistrust and tension leading to violence and even mob attacks.

Also Read: Got suggestions for Doctors' safety? Write to Supreme Court appointed National Task Force via this link.....