.Rohit Shishodia

Anguished over recent assaults on doctors in Assam, UP, Bihar, Delhi and West Bengal, the Indian Medical Association, a body of around four lakh doctors, will protest across India by wearing black bandages, black shirts and ribbons in hospitals without hampering medical care

Mass petition against the assaults on medical profession and professionals will sent to Prime Minister Narnedra Modi. The public awareness campaign will be run against violence in the healthcare sector.

Medical students conclave, a comprehensive representation of students from each medical college shall be conducted in every state. Boycott of online classes would be done.

Press conferences will be organized with social media and print media. Meeting of local NGOs, voluntary services leaders, and IMA will be held to plan and form a coordination team to mitigate and prevent future violence. Administrative and political leaders will be apprised of the situations.

Addressing press on June 12, 2021 in Delhi, Dr JA Jayalal, President, IMA, said that the doctors working in corona wards have been brutally assaulted and sustain fractures. They are struggling to get back to normal lives, he added.

“It is the responsibility of the government to make sure that front line workers are allowed to work in a safe and secure environment. We have demanded the government to bring the Central Hospital and Health Care Professionals Protection Act with IPC and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC),” he added.

The IMA has also demanded standardization and augmentation of security in each hospital and declaration of hospitals as protected zones. Culprits should be tried under fast-track mode and stringent punishments shall be awarded.