NEW DELHI: The newly enacted criminal laws have provisions to protect medical professionals against violence, the government informed the Lok Sabha on Friday.
In a written reply, Union Health Minister J P Nadda said the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) have adequate provisions to protect medical professionals against violence.
He was responding to a question from Congress MP Shashi Tharoor about whether the government proposes to introduce any legislation to curb the rising trend of violence against medical professionals in the country.
Nadda said there are no provisions to provide financial or legal support to medical professionals who become victims of violence while performing their duties.
Tharoor raised the issue in Parliament earlier, too. In February, he had demanded separate legislation to protect healthcare professionals in the workplace in Lok Sabha. He took up the issue after the brutal murder of a Kerala doctor by a patient last year. Medical professionals have long been demanding for a separate legislation that protects them from attacks from patients and their relatives.
In his reply, Nadda said as per constitutional provisions, ‘Health’ and ‘Law and Order’ are state subjects and, therefore, it is the primary responsibility of the concerned state governments to take appropriate action to prevent violence against medical professionals including the imposition of penalties or setting up helplines to extend immediate help to such medical professionals who are victims of violence.
Highlighting that violence against medical professionals is a criminal offence, Nadda said it is required to be dealt with by the state and UT governments under provisions in the BNS and BNSS so that medical professionals can discharge their professional pursuits without fear of violence.
He said the central government had taken several measures to prevent violence against medical professionals and bring about a sense of security among medical professionals on duty.
Nadda said this includes issuing advisories in this regard to all state governments to consider the security of sensitive hospitals to be managed by a designated and trained force; installation of CCTV cameras and round-the-clock Quick Reaction Teams with practical communication/security gadgets, particularly in casualty, emergency and areas having high footfalls; well-equipped centralised control room for monitoring and quick response; entry restriction for undesirable persons; institutional FIR against assaulters; and display of legislation protecting medical professionals in every hospital and police station.
He said the government has also communicated these measures with the states.
Several cases have been reported from different states of attacks on medical professionals by angry patients or their relatives. In May 2023, a 23-year-old Kerala doctor was stabbed to death by a patient at Kottarakkara Taluk Hospital. The murder sparked outrage, particularly among healthcare professionals, who demanded stringent legal action against those committing such acts of violence against doctors and other healthcare workers.