The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'benign intervention' to bring a central law to check violence against healthcare personnel and declare hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements.
These are among the demands made by the apex doctors' body in the backdrop of the alleged rape and murder of a medic at the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata and the subsequent vandalism at the facility.
The IMA, which is observing a 24-hour nationwide withdrawal of non-emergency services from 6 am on Saturday, wrote to the prime minister, putting forward its five demands.
All essential services are being maintained and casualty wards manned, the IMA said in a statement.
'The 36-hour shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces to rest and adequate restrooms warrant thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of resident doctors,' it added.
It has also demanded that hospitals be declared as safe zones, with the first step being mandatory security entitlements.
'Security protocols at hospitals should be no less than at airports. Declaring hospitals as safe zones with mandatory security entitlements is the first step. CCTV cameras, deployment of security personnel and the protocols can follow,' the IMA said.
It has demanded a central act incorporating the 2020 amendments in the Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897 into the draft Healthcare Services Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of Violence and Damage to Property) Bill, 2019, saying it would strengthen the existing 25 state legislations.
The doctors' body also called for meticulous and professional investigation of the crime in a specific timeframe and rendering of justice, besides identifying those involved in the vandalism and exemplary punishment for those involved.
There was vandalism on August 15 by a large crowd, which destroyed various sections of the facility, including where the victim was found, the IMA mentioned.
It also sought appropriate and dignified compensation to the bereaved family.
Doctors, especially women, are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession. It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and on campuses, the IMA said.
'The RG Kar incident has brought to the fore the two dimensions of violence in the hospital: A crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women and the hooliganism that is unleashed due to lack of an organised security protocol. The crime and the vandalism have shocked the conscience of the nation,' it said.
Doctors in several hospitals around the country withdrew non-essential services and were providing only emergency and causality services, the IMA said.
It also appreciated the prime minister's remarks about the safety of women in his Independence Day address.
'We appeal to you for your benign intervention at this stage. This will give confidence to not only women doctors but also to every woman in workplace,' the doctors' body said.
The IMA said that 60 per cent of Indian doctors were women.
This percentage is as high as 68 per cent in the dental profession, 75 per cent in physiotherapy and 85 per cent in nursing. All healthcare professionals deserve peaceful ambience, safety and security at the workplace, it added.
'We are appealing for your benign intervention to ensure appropriate measures to meet our demands,' the IMA said.
