CHANDIGARH: With more than a dozen cases of assault on government doctors of Punjab in the last two months after the RG Kar hospital horror in Kolkata and assurances by the AAP-led Punjab Government for comprehensive security and reinstatement of dynamic assured carrier progressions (DACPs), nothing has happened on the ground.
The doctors are now planning to follow the path of agitation.
In the last few days, two incidents of violence against doctors have been reported, one from Civil Hospital at Jalandhar on October 20 where a drunkard person assaulted a doctor on night duty and harassed his female colleagues and another from the community health centre (CHC) Dhakoli where two groups clashed with each other in the centre thus forcing the lady doctor and staff to lock themselves in the room till police came.
Thus after the intervention of the association, the state police lodged the cases against the alleged accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Punjab Protection Medicare Services Institutions (Prevention of Violence and Damage of Property) Act.
It is learnt that similar incidents have taken place since August at the government health facilities at Dera Baba Nanak, Patiala, Jagron, Sunam, Rajpura, Ferozepur and Naushera Majha Singh.
Talking with TNIE, Dr Akhil Sarin, president of the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association of Punjab said, "If commitment made by the government is not met within the stipulated time frame then the doctors will be forced to follow the path of agitation."
He said that on October 21, a letter was written to the state health and family welfare secretary requesting a meeting regarding a review of the implementation of security provisions.
"On September 11 the association met with the cabinet subcommittee and received a written assurance that a comprehensive security framed work at all the 24/7 centres of the state would be put in place within a week of the meeting and also the government agreed to the implementation of dynamic assured carrier progressions (DACPs) within 12 weeks of the meeting but nothing happened on the ground,’’ he added.
The ACP scheme provides financial benefits and higher pay scales to government employees.
"After the meeting, the state health minister announced and reiterated that the assurances will be implemented within the stipulated time frame. However even after the lapse of six weeks, no on-ground steps for implementation of the assurances are perceptible, ‘’ he said.
The PCMS Association has been demanding a detailed assessment of each health facility to determine optimal security guards. For a 200-bed hospital ten guards during day time and four at evening and night hours. For the sub-district level hospitals, six security guards and at the community health centre, four guards.
Besides security guards, visitor passes for people coming to see the patients, installing CCTVs and improving lighting in hospital campuses are also recommended.
Earlier on September 14 the PCMS doctors, who had suspended OPD services since September 9, announced that they would be resuming duties after assurance from state health minister Dr Balbir Singh.