GUWAHATI, Nov 5 � The Junior Doctors Association (JDA), Guwahati Medical College Hospital (GMCH) on Friday demanded of the government to protect medical practitioners against mob violence by enacting a law that will regard all violent acts perpetrated against a hospital and its staff a punishable and non-bailable offence in line with Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
It needs to be mentioned here that the Maharashtra Medicare Service Persons and Medical Service Institution (Prevention of Violence and Damage or Loss to Property) Act, 2010, makes attacks on doctors a non-bailable offence and those attacking medical personnel or hospitals liable to a maximum of three years jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000.
The JDA protested today against the manhandling of GMCH Superintendent Dr Ramen Talukdar inside the campus yesterday by a constable by staging a dharna in association with the union society of the medical college. It said that violence against medical practitioners was rising in the State which has adversely affected the medical services.
Calling for concrete steps to address the problem, the JDA warned that if the government fails to meet its demand, it would be compelled to launch a democratic agitation. The JDA also assured that its protest programmes would not in any way hamper the services to the patients.
The teachers of the college will protest against the incident by staging a demonstration tomorrow. JDA has extended its support to the programme.
