18th August, 2024

Shri Narendra Modi  

Honourable Prime Minister of India  

7, Lok Kalyan Marg  

New Delhi – 110011

 

Respected Prime Minister,

 

We, the undersigned Padma Awardee doctors, write to you with deep concern and profound anguish regarding the horrific events that recently occurred at R G Kar Medical College in Kolkata. As the head of our nation, we implore your immediate and personal intervention to address this alarming situation. Such acts of brutality shake the very foundations of service by medical professionals and highlight the urgent need to address violence, particularly against women, girls, and healthcare professionals.

 

We stand in unwavering solidarity with the victim’s family, whose pain and loss are unimaginable. We also extend our full support to the medical community, who are increasingly confronting such violence in the course of their work. The safety and dignity of healthcare professionals must be safeguarded with utmost priority.

 

It is clear that stronger measures are desperately needed to prevent such atrocities. We call upon law enforcement agencies, policymakers, and society at large to take immediate and decisive action. Specifically, we recommend the following:

 

1. Stricter enforcement of existing laws – The doctors emphasise the need for law enforcement agencies to more rigorously apply current legal frameworks to protect healthcare professionals.

2. Harsher and time-bound punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence – The doctors advocate for severe and swift penalties to serve as a deterrent against such crimes.

3. Enhanced safety measures in hospitals and medical institutions – The letter urges the government to implement improved safety protocols within healthcare facilities to ensure a secure working environment for all medical staff.

4. Enactment and implementation of a special law for the protection of healthcare workers – We urge the central and state governments to quickly enact and implement a separate law for the protection of healthcare workers, ensuring its rapid enforcement on the ground. A proposed bill, “The Prevention of Violence Against Doctors, Medical Professionals and Medical Institutions Bill,” has been ready since 2019 but has not yet been tabled in Parliament for passage and adoption. We strongly believe that an ordinance to this effect can be brought immediately, and the bill should be passed post-haste so that all those working in healthcare delivery systems in the country can work without fear, in service of suffering patients.

5. Harshest possible punishment for violence against healthcare workers – The proposed ordinance/bill should ensure that the harshest possible punishment is given to those who indulge in violence against healthcare workers, whether verbal or physical. Such cases should be resolved swiftly by the judiciary, with offences categorised as non-bailable.

 

Sir, we should not allow such acts to become normalised or forgotten. As recipients of one of the nation’s prestigious civilian honours, we feel a deep responsibility to speak out and demand timely action and appropriate changes.

 

Let this tragedy serve as a catalyst for real, lasting change. We owe it to the late Nirbhaya, and to all victims of sexual violence, and to future generations to create a society where such horrors are unthinkable. We earnestly appeal to you through this letter to safeguard the medical profession against physical assaults and defacement of the dignity and respect of all healthcare workers.

 

We look forward to your quick and decisive action.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Padma Awardee Doctors

1. Dr Harsh Mahajan  

2. Dr Anoop Misra  

3. Dr A K Grover  

4. Dr Alka Kriplani  

5. Dr Mohsin Wali  

6. Dr Ambrish Mithal

7. Dr Pradeep Chowbey  

8. Dr Anil Kohli  

9. Dr Arvind Lal  

10. Dr Ashok Seth  

11. Dr Balram Bhargava  

12. Dr Mahesh Verma  

13. Dr Mahipal Sachdev  

14. Dr N P Gupta  

15. Dr P K Julka  

16. Dr Praveen Chandra  

17. Dr Raman Kapur  

18. Dr Randeep Guleria  

19. Dr Shashank Joshi  

20. Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin  

21. Dr Sudhir Shah  

22. Dr Upendra Kaul  

23. Dr Yash Gulati  

24. Dr (Lt Gen) B N Shahi  

25. Dr Devendra Triguna  

26. Dr Dinesh Bhargava  

27. Dr Balbir Singh  

28. Dr Ganesh K Mani  

29. Dr Lalit Kumar  

30. Dr M Khalilullah  

31. Dr Purshotam Lal  

32. Dr R K Grover  

33. Dr S P Yadav  

34. Dr Atul Kumar  

35. Dr Arvinder Singh Soin  

36. Dr D S Rana  

37. Dr T S Kler  

38. Dr Daljeet Singh Gambhir  

39. Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar  

40. Dr Jagdish Prasad  

41. Dr Jeewan S Titiyal  

42. Dr K K Sethi  

43. Dr K K Naik  

44. Dr Malvika Sabharwal  

45. Dr Manjula Anagani  

46. Dr Narendra Pandey  

47. Dr Naresh Trehan  

48. Dr Neelam Kler  

49. Dr Nikhil Tandon  

50. Dr N K Ganguly  

51. Dr Nitish Naik  

52. Dr Nosher Shroff  

53. Air Marshal Dr Padma Bandopadhyay

54. Dr P K Sethi  

55. Dr Ashok Gupta  

56. Prof J M Hans  

57. Prof R K Grover  

58. Dr Ravindra Kolhe  

59. Dr Sandeep Guleria  

60. Dr Sanjeev Bagai  

61. Dr Randhir Sud  

62. Dr Deepak Sehgal  

63. Dr S C Manchanda  

64. Dr Saumitra Rawat  

65. Dr Raminder Grover  

66. Dr M.V Padma Srivastava

67. Dr. Harsh Kumar

68. Dr. A K Bhalla

69. Dr. B K Rao

70. Dr S P Mandal

71. Dr. Ashok Vaid