New Delhi. Taking suo motu cognizance of the case of rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College, the Supreme Court has talked about the formation of a National Task Force to ensure the safety of doctors. CJI DY Chandrachud has also told who will be included in it. The CJI has prepared a list of members of the task force. It includes Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy, Dr. M. Srinivas, Dr. Pratima Murthy, Dr. Govardhan Dutt Puri, Dr. Saumitra Rawat, Professor Anita Saxena, Head Cardiology AIIMS Delhi, Professor Pallavi Sapre, Dean Grant Medical College Mumbai, Dr. Padma Srivastava, Department of Neurology, AIIMS, under the chairmanship of Surgeon Vice Admiral R. Sarin.
CJI: A national consensus must be evolved.. thus we are putting together a list of members as part of National Task force
Surgeon Vice Admiral R Sarin
Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy
Dr. M Shreenivas
Dr.Pratima Murty
Dr. Goverdhan Dutt Puri
Dr.Saumitra Rawat
Prof. Anita Saxena, Head…— Bar and Bench (@barandbench) August 20, 2024
Apart from these, the ex-officio members of the National Task Force include the Cabinet Secretary of the Government of India, Home Secretary, Secretary of the Union Health Ministry, Chairman of the National Medical Commission, Chairman of the National Board of Examiners. The Supreme Court said in its comment that there are no toilet facilities for doctors in hospitals, there is no transport for doctors to reach home after a long shift, there are no properly working CCTV cameras. The CJI said that medical professionals often have to face all kinds of violence during their work. Many times doctors work 24 hours, yet they do not get security.
The Supreme Court said that in 2024, a doctor was attacked while on duty in West Bengal, in which the doctor later died. Such cases keep coming from many parts of the country. In Bihar, a nurse was pushed by the relatives of the patient. Similarly, another doctor was attacked in Hyderabad. The CJI said that there is also a possibility of sexual violence on female doctors by the relatives of the patients and the case of Aruna Shanbaug is an example of this. The next hearing of the case will now be on August 22.