01:29
Kerala: Doctors protest against the murder of Dr Vandana Das
comes in between Doctors in Kerala protest for their safety after a young doctor was killed by a drug addict she was treating in Kollam district,
05:38
The doctor who was treating the person in Kerala was stabbed to death, medical bodies protested
The emergency meeting has been called for later today in the backdrop of intensifying doctors’ agitation against the killing of 23-year-old Vandana Das.
The woman doctor was on Wednesday stabbed to death by a man whose leg wound she was dressing at a hospital in Kollam district, where she was brought after an alleged fight with her family members.
Demanding the government to bring a new law to protect hospitals with immediate effect, most of the doctors have reported not coming to work for the last 24 hours.
emergency meeting
A statement from the CMO said the emergency meeting to be held at the conference hall of the chief minister’s office in Thiruvananthapuram would discuss various issues including framing of a new law to prevent attacks against doctors on duty.
Apart from Health Minister Veena George and Chief Secretary VP Joy, Secretaries Health, Law and Medical Education, state police chiefs, ADGPs and concerned department heads will also attend the meeting, PTI quoted the statement as saying.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to call a high-level meeting after holding discussions with representatives of various doctors’ associations in his chamber in the morning.
After meeting Vijayan, union leaders told reporters outside that the chief minister listened to their grievances and assured them of sympathetically considering their demands.
‘Bring new law’
Indian Medical Association (IMA) state president Dr Salfi N said, “We requested the government to immediately bring a new law to protect hospitals. We also wanted hospitals to be declared as special security zones.”
He also said that the organization has demanded the government to name the new law after the deceased doctor.
The IMA further said that the ongoing agitation will continue till they get concrete assurance from the authorities on their demands.
Apart from the IMA, the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMO) also announced a strike today.
The functioning of hospitals across the state was largely affected due to the agitation by medical students and doctors.
Intensive care units (ICU) and casualty were exempted from the strike, but outpatient (OP) services in state hospitals were affected.
Earlier in the day, the Kerala High Court termed the killing of a young doctor at a taluk hospital as the result of a “systemic failure”.
A special bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran and Justice Kausar Edappagath directed the state police chief to come up with new protocols to ensure the safety of doctors and other health professionals in all government hospitals in the state.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people from different walks of life, including ministers, legislators, paid their last respects to deceased Dr Vandana Das at his residence at Muttuchira in Kottayam, where the mortal remains have been kept for public homage.
State Health Minister Veena George and Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan were also among those who paid tributes.
Coming down heavily on the government over the issue, Satheesan alleged that the Left regime did not take the issue of doctors’ safety seriously when the Congress-led UDF opposition raised it in the assembly recently.
He said the government had then replied in the House that there was no such problem in the state’s hospitals, but later corrected it after various organizations came out against it.
He said it was “strange” that the police officers were justifying the department even after bringing a criminal to the hospital without any precaution.
with PTI inputs