Pune: Around 80 per cent doctors from Pune took part in the nation-wide protest against the inhuman assault on two interns of NRS Medical College, Kolkata and growing number of incidents of attack on doctors. Only medical services for emergency patients were available.
On Monday, Indian Medical Association (IMA) President, Dr Sanjay Patil during a press conference said, “All over India, all three lakh doctors of IMA have kept their services closed on Monday. All non-essential services, including Outdoor Patient Department (OPD) services, are withdrawn for 24 hours starting Monday 6 am to Tuesday 6 am. Only the emergency medical services are kept functional by the doctors.”
President-Elect, Maharashtra State, Indian Medical Association, Avinash Bhondwe, said, “There are 4,800 members of Indian Medical Association in the city and from this 80 per cent of the doctors had taken part in the protest.
There is a law which was passed in 2010, Violence against doctors and healthcare institutes, but it has never been implemented in a stringent manner. In the last nine years, around 58 cases were registered but only two were convicted viz. one from Nashik and another from Palghar.”
“The law process is slow. We want to make it stronger and faster. Currently, the imprisonment for the offence is just for three years. We are demanding to make a provision of seven years’ imprisonment for the offence and also make it non-bailable. Also, we want a fast track court. Exemplary punishment for perpetrators of violence should be a component of the central law and suitable amendments should be brought in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” Bhondwe added.
