SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Aug 13: Rattled by the murder of a trainee lady doctor in Kolkata, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) national body has served an ultimatum to the central government to either implement five-point demand in 48 hours or face agitation across the country.
5-point charter of demands of IMA
Demands of the IMA are hospitals across the country should be declared as safe zones. The law should define the entitlement of the term safe zone. All major government hospitals should have police camps and adequate security personnel.
Security arrangements should be made mandatory in large private hospitals. CCTV cameras in vulnerable points should be made compulsory. Special central act must be made to curb attacks on doctors/hospitals as 25 states have laws on attacks on doctors/hospitals but that is ineffective.
IMA national president Dr RV Asokan and secretary general Anil Kumar J Nayak in a letter to union health minister JP Nadda served on Monday evening, said that the entire medical fraternity of India is shocked at the brutal murder of a 2nd year lady PG student of R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata.
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“This heinous crime has been committed inside the seminar hall on the 3rd floor of the campus. IMA understands that she was raped before the murder. This crime is an index of the anarchy and insecurity prevailing in the campus”, said the IMA president and the secretary.
IMA seeks meeting with union health minister
Seeking a meeting with the union health minister, the IMA president and the secretary general have said the murder of this young lady doctor is not the first nor it would be the last if corrective measures are not taken.
“We request you to reconsider introducing the Draft Legislation ‘The Healthcare Service Personnel and Clinical Establishments (Prohibition of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2019’ incorporating the amendments in the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, approved and passed by the Parliament in Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act, 2020”, the IMA said.
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Demands from West Bengal govt
The İMA national body has also made some demands from the West Bengal government over the murder of the lady doctor.
Demands of the IMA are an impartial investigation of the case and punishment of the culprits, a detailed inquiry into the condition enabling the crime and urgent steps to improve the safety of doctors especially women in the workplace.
