New Delhi. After the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the anger of doctors across the country has erupted. This matter has been hot for the past several days. Resident doctors across the country have come out on the streets to protest against this incident. Meanwhile, the indefinite strike of resident doctors in Delhi continued on Thursday as well.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had requested the protesters to return to work. Health services in Delhi hospitals have been badly affected due to the protests. The Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the matter last Tuesday. The Supreme Court formed a task force to prepare a protocol to provide security to doctors and other health department employees.
The ten-member task force headed by Vice Admiral Aarti Sareen has been ordered to submit its interim report within three weeks. However, some doctors’ associations have expressed dissatisfaction over the composition of the task force. They said that we are unable to understand the basis of selection of the members of the task force. There should have been representation of resident doctors in it, which we have been advocating. There should also be representation of professors of government medical colleges in it, because incidents of violence mainly occur in government hospitals, not in private hospitals.
Meanwhile, the All India Medical Federation has approached the Supreme Court seeking interim protection for doctors till the implementation of the NTF recommendations. Seeking intervention in the ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court, the petition said that doctors often face incidents of violence and threat to their safety. It said that it is extremely important that there is adequate representation of resident doctors, as they are facing real-time problems on a regular basis.
The petition has sought installation of CCTV cameras in all sensitive areas including entry and exit gates and corridor areas of the hospital and hostel. The major demands in the petition include installation of CCTVs, strict compliance of the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, setting up of 24-hour distress call facility to provide immediate help to health workers in emergency situations.