Modi government strict on attack on health workers

New Delhi: Amid widespread protests over the alleged rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the central government on Friday directed all government medical institutions to register an institutional FIR within six hours of any incident of violence against any health worker on duty. The instructions issued by the Union Health Ministry said that the responsibility of registering the FIR will be of the heads of all the concerned institutions. This has been a major demand of the protesting doctors.

The office memorandum issued by Director General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr. Atul Goyal has been issued to the directors and medical superintendents of central government hospitals including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and principals of all medical colleges across the country. The memorandum states, “In case of any kind of violence against any health worker during duty, it will be the responsibility of the head of the institution to register an institutional FIR within a maximum of six hours of the incident.” According to the memorandum, it has been observed recently that incidents of violence against doctors and other health workers have become common in government hospitals. The memorandum states that many health workers have to face physical violence during duty and many are threatened or abused. It states that in most cases the violence is done by patients or their attendants. After the rape and murder of a junior doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, protests and strikes by senior and resident doctors are still going on across the country demanding the implementation of the Central Protection Act (CPA). The doctors’ organization Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) has again announced a strike on Thursday. Late on Tuesday, FORDA representatives met Union Health Minister and BJP President JP Nadda and announced the end of the strike.