The Health Ministry has allowed enhancement of security deployment by 25 per cent at all union government hospitals, official said, amid protests by resident doctors demanding a central law following the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor at a Kolkata hospital.
Officials said that apart from the standard security protocol, the deployment of marshals would also be approved based on individual demands by government hospitals after they conduct their security assessment.
Official sources, however, said bringing a central law based on the RG Kar case “will not make any huge difference” as the alleged rape and murder of the junior doctor at the Kolkata facility was not a case of patient-doctor violence.
Crimes and rapes are already covered under existing laws, they said.
They further said that 26 states and Union Territories including West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra, Assam, Karnataka and Kerala have passed legislations to protect healthcare personnel. In all these states these offences are cognisable and non-bailable.
“So, bringing in an ordinance or even a Central law, that too based on the RG Kar case which was not a patient-doctor violence incident, will not make any huge difference,” an official source said.
They said they have held meetings with some Residents Doctors’ Associations and have explained these aspects to them too.
More so, a committee will be constituted under the chairmanship of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) to look into various aspects of security and facilities at hospitals for residents like duty room, working hours and conditions, and canteen services.