IMA to protest violence against doctors on June 18, hospitals to remain open
1 min read . Updated: 12 Jun 2021, 03:10 PM IST
Premium- No hospitals will be closed during the protest, IMA President Dr J A Jayalal informed
- Doctors will join the protest by wearing black masks, badges or shirts
Medical body Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Saturday announced that it will hold a protest against rampant cases of violence against doctors in the nation. The decision comes in the backdrop of several incidences of doctors being manhandled by patients' relatives.
IMA President Dr J A Jayalal informed that the the protest will be organised on June 18, Friday, to against assault on medical professionals under the slogan 'Save the Saviour'. Doctors will join the protest by wearing black masks, badges or shirts.
No hospitals will be closed during the protest, Dr Jayalal stated.
"Doctors serving in COVID wards have been beaten and brutally assaulted in Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, UP, and Karnataka. It is responsibility of the government to ensure the safety and security of frontline workers who are working in a pandemic," the IMA President said. "We demand that govt brings a central protection law with provisions under CrPC and IPC and also ensure that all government and private hospital have a mandatory security structure."
Earlier this week, IMA had wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his intervention to ensure that medical professionals can work without fear. It asked for strict action against those who assault doctors as per relevant legal framework
“Any person(s) who spreads misinformation against the vaccination drive, which is meant to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, must be booked and punished in accordance with law including under the relevant provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act, 2005," said the association further demanded in its letter to the PM.
Last week, the doctors' body had also written to Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting stringent laws to curb violence against doctors. The association demanded that hospitals should be declared protected zones with mandatory police deployment to check such incidents.
