The Supreme Court of India has taken up the matter of doctors being absent from their participation in protests against the alleged rape-murder incident at R G Kar hospital. This is a fresh development involving the protest by resident doctors. The Court took action after receiving complaints from resident physicians and their attorneys, with Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud leading the case along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
Prominent doctors from AIIMS Delhi and other prominent institutes claimed they were being punished for their nonattendance during the protests. They specifically emphasized that some schools were not allowing them to make up the 11 days they had lost in class, and some were even preventing them from taking their exams. The doctors who were protesting were deeply distressed by this punitive approach.
In retaliation, the Supreme Court issued a protection order guaranteeing that the doctors who were demonstrating would not be subjected to any kind of coercion for skipping work. The Court did not, however, order the authorities to provide full attendance during the relevant period. In order to highlight how dire the situation is, the bench stated that patients who depend on these services are often impoverished and may have to wait up to two years for a new visit if a doctor is absent.
The Court reaffirmed its resolve to give the matter top consideration while acknowledging the seriousness of the doctors’ worries. In order to aid in the resolution process, the Court had already formed a nationwide task force to tackle the more general concerns of physician safety and the influence of demonstrations on healthcare services. The doctors were reassured by the bench that their representatives will be given a chance to be heard by the task force as it creates a national action plan to improve physician safety and lessen similar interruptions in the future.
Thus, the Court’s intervention helps to strike a balance between the need to continue providing patients with medical care and the doctors’ rights to protest and voice their complaints. The goal was to protect the doctors who were protesting from any immediate punitive action while making sure they returned to their jobs.
SOURCE :
TIMES OF INDIA
