What specific legal provisions does the IMA recommend for protecting doctors

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has been demanding a comprehensive central law to protect doctors and healthcare professionals from increasing violence. Here are the key legal provisions recommended by the IMA:

1. Stringent Punishment: The IMA's draft law proposes a 10-year jail term and Rs 5 lakh fine for violence against doctors and healthcare professionals. In its latest pitch, the IMA is seeking a 7-year jail term for such offenses.

2. Treating Violence as a Cognizable Offense: The IMA's draft law makes violence against doctors a cognizable, non-bailable, non-compoundable offense that is fit for trial by a Judicial Magistrate of First Class.

3. Covering Hospitals and Surrounding Areas: The draft law covers hospitals and a radius of 50 meters around them. It also includes home visits by doctors under its purview.

4. Compensation for Property Damage: The offender in case of any property damage should be asked to pay compensation twice the price of the damaged property.

5. Declaring Hospitals as Safe Zones: The IMA seeks to declare hospitals and healthcare institutions as safe zones to ensure doctors and medical staff are not subjected to violence while performing their duties.

6. Fast-Track Courts: There is an urgent demand to introduce fast-track courts to handle cases related to violence against doctors.

7. Holding Hospitals Accountable: Hospitals and their owners should be held accountable for any violence that takes place against doctors and face administrative consequences if they fail to provide adequate security.

The IMA believes that such stringent legal provisions, along with effective implementation, will help curb the rising incidents of violence against doctors in India.

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