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As doctors call off strike, SC puts off hearing on their safety

NEW DELHI: A day after doctors called off their strike in West Bengal and other parts of India, the Supreme Court on Tuesday put off hearing a Public Interest Litigation that asked for protection to doctors in government hospitals saying "there was no urgency" to take up the case.

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Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 18
 
A day after doctors called off their strike in West Bengal and other parts of India, the Supreme Court on Tuesday put off hearing a Public Interest Litigation that asked for protection to doctors in government hospitals saying "there was no urgency" to take up the case.
 
Junior doctors in West Bengal had been on strike since June 11, demanding better security at workplace after an assault on their colleagues by relatives of an old man who died in a government hospital in Kolkata on June 10. Healthcare services in the country were badly affected as doctors outside West Bengal also joined protest. Over 100 senior doctors of various state-run hospitals across West Bengal had resigned from service in protest.
 
"When this matter was mentioned yesterday, we had directed to list it today because the strike by the medical fraternity in West Bengal and in some other states was continuing. On Monday, the strike was called off. Therefore we find no urgency to take up the matter. List the matter after summer vacation before appropriate bench," said a Vacation Bench headed by Justice Deepak Gupta when the petition came up for hearing on Tuesday.
 
Noting that safety of doctors was a serious issue, the Bench said it could not direct police personnel to be deployed with individual doctors. Refusing to issue notice to the Centre at this juncture, it kept the larger issue of safety of doctors open, saying it needed to take a holistic view of the issue.
 
"We understand it is a serious issue but we can't provide security to doctors at the cost of other citizens. We have to take a holistic view. We have to look at the larger picture like availability of police personnel and other things. We are not against protection to doctors but at the same time we cannot direct to depute police personnel with each and every doctor," the Bench said.
 
The Indian Medical Association too has moved the court asking for intrevention, saying doctors needed to be given protection across India.
 
Filed on Friday last, the PIL has sought directions to union ministries of home affairs and health, and the government of West Bengal to depute government-appointed security personnel at all state-run hospitals to ensure safety and security of doctors.
 
Demanding strictest legal and penal action against those who assaulted junior doctors at NRS Medical College Hospital in Kolkata, the petition sought directions to formulate appropriate guidelines to ensure safety and security of doctors at government hospitals.
 
"As per the study conducted by IMA, more than 75 per cent of doctors across the country have faced some form of violence. This study concluded that 50 percent violent incidents took place in the Intensive Care Unit of hospitals and in 70 per cent of cases, the relatives of the patients were actively involved," the petitioner submitted.
 
"The doctors are our saviours and particularly the doctor working in government hospitals are doing great national service, particularly to the poor and downtrodden of this country, in extremely adverse circumstances," the petitioner said.
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