SC constitutes 10-member task force to formulate protocol for ensuring safety of doctors

Supreme Court forms 10-member task force to ensure safety of doctors

Observing that the safety and well-being of doctors is a matter of national interest, the Supreme Court on Tuesday (August 20, 2024) constituted a 10-member National Task Force (NTF) to formulate a protocol for ensuring their safety and security in the wake of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata.

The task force will submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months, the court said.

A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said a lack of institutional safety norms at medical establishments against both violence and sexual violence against medical professionals is a matter of serious concern.

It said there are legislations to protect medical professionals but they do not address the systemic issues.

The 10 members of the task force are -- Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, Director General, Medical Services (Navy), Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Dr M Srinivas, Director of Delhi-AIIMS, Dr Pratima Murthy, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Executive Director, AIIMS Jodhpur, Dr Saumitra Rawat, Chairperson, Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, GI and HPB Onco-Surgery and Liver Transplantation and Member, Board of Management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi.

The other members are -- Professor Anita Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, Pandit B D Sharma Medical University, Rohtak, former Dean of Academics, Chief Cardio thoracic Centre and Head Cardiology Department AIIMS, Delhi, Dr Pallavi Saple, Dean, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai, and Dr Padma Srivastava, formerly Professor at the Department of Neurology, AIIMS Delhi.

The bench said the cabinet secretary and the home secretary to the Union government, secretary, Ministry of Health, chairperson, National Medical Commission and president, National Board of Examinations shall be the ex-officio members of the task force.