New Delhi, Aug 20: The Supreme Court Tuesday said that the nation can't wait for another rape and murder for bringing changes on the ground and set up National Task Force (NTF) to prepare an action plan to prevent violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions.

"As more and more women join the work force, the nation cannot wait for another rape for things to change on the ground," the top court said.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra's observation came while hearing a suo motu cognisance of the rape and murder of a doctor in State-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal.

The top court questioned the West Bengal government for waiting three hours to register the FIR. The top court also pulled the WB govt observing that the name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity.

On 9 August 2024, a thirty-one-year-old postgraduate doctor at RG Kar Medical College Hospital, Kolkata who was on a thirty-six-hour duty shift was murdered and allegedly raped inside the seminar room of the hospital.

"As horrific details have emerged in the course of media reportage, the brutality of the sexual assault and the nature of the crime have shocked the conscience of the Nation. The name and graphic images of the deceased have been widely circulated on social media without regard to her privacy or dignity," the top court said.

The top court noted that the lack of institutional safety norms at medical establishments against both violence and sexual violence against medical professionals is a matter of serious concern.

"While gendered violence is the source of the more malevolent manifestations of the structural deficiencies in public health institutions, the lack of safety is of concern to all medical professionals. Preserving safe conditions of work is central to realizing equality of opportunity to every working professional. This is not just a matter of protecting doctors. Their safety and well-being as health providers, it is a matter of national interest. As more and more women join the work force in cutting edge areas of knowledge and science, the nation has a vital stake in ensuring safe and dignified conditions of work. The constitutional value of equality demands nothing else and will not brook compromises on the health, well-being and safety of those who provide health care to others. The nation cannot await a rape or murder for real changes on the ground," the top court said.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra set up National Task Force (NTF) to prepare action plan to prevent violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions.

The members of the NTF team includes, surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, AVSM, VSM, 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, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi; Dr Pratima Murthy, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru; Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Executive Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, 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 ; Member, Court of Examiners, Royal College of Surgeons, England; Professor Anita Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, Pandit B D Sharma Medical University, Rohtak.

Formerly Dean of Academics, Chief- Cardiothoracic Centre and Head Cardiology Department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (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, currently serving as the Chairperson of Neurology at Paras Health Gurugram are among the members of the team.

The top court also said that the Cabinet Secretary & Home Secretary of Govt of India Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Chairperson, National Medical Commission; and President, National Board of Examinations will be ex-officio members of the NTF.

The top court said that the NTF shall formulate effective recommendations to remedy the issues of concern pertaining to safety, working conditions and well-being of medical professionals and other cognate matters highlighted in the segments of this order. The NTF shall while doing so, consider the following aspects to prepare an action plan. The action plan may be categorized under two heads -- preventing violence, including gender- based violence against medical professionals; and Providing an enforceable national protocol for dignified and safe working conditions for interns, residents, senior residents, doctors, nurses and all medical professionals the court said.

Under the Prevention of violence against medical professionals and providing safe working conditions, the task force will consider ensuring due security in medical establishments -Triaging departments and places within the hospital based on the degree of volatility and the possibility of violence and areas such as the emergency rooms and the Intensive Care Units are prone to a greater degree of violence and may possibly need additional security in place to deal with any untoward incident.

The task force shall consider aspects like baggage and person screening system at every entrance of the hospital to ensure that arms are not carried inside the medical establishment, Preventing intoxicated persons from entering the premises of the medical establishment, unless they are patients; and Training security personnel employed at Hospitals to manage crowds and grieving persons.

The top court also suggested to consider the aspects like infrastructural development which includes provision of separate resting rooms and duty rooms in each Department for male doctors; female doctors; male nurses; female nurses; and a gender-neutral common resting space. The room must be well-ventilated, have sufficient bed spaces, and provide a facility for drinking water. Access to these rooms must be restricted through installation of security devices.

"Adopting appropriate technological intervention to regulate access to critical and sensitive areas including through use of bio-metric and facial recognition; Ensuring adequate lighting at all places in the hospital and, if it is a hospital attached to a medical college, all places within the campus," the top court suggested including installation of CCTV cameras and provision of transport facilities.

The top court also suggested to look into formation of Internal Complaints Committee and organsing sensitization programmes and providing a safe working space in all hospitals and nursing homes under the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013.

The top court also said that the NTF shall be at liberty to make recommendations on all aspects of the action-plan highlighted above, any other aspects which the members seek to cover, to make additional suggestions, where appropriate. The NTF shall also suggest appropriate timelines by which the recommendations could be implemented based on the existing facilities in Hospitals.

"The NTF is requested to consult all stake-holders, bearing in mind the gravity and urgency of the situation we have included the heads of the National Medical Commission and the National Board of Examinations as Ex-officio members of the NTF. Bearing in mind the national concerns which have been raised over the issue and the high priority which must be given to the creation of safe working conditions in healthcare institutions, we request the Cabinet Secretary to the Union Government to associate with the work of the NTF. The Home Secretary of the Union Government has also been made a member of the NTF in order to facilitate proper co-ordination with the State Governments," the top court said.

The top court asked the NTF to submit an interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months from the date of this order.

The top court also directed the State Governments and UT Governments to collate information from all hospitals run by the State and the Central Government, respectively on the aspects relating to security personnel employed at each Hospital and each department among others. The court has also directed state governments to check about the baggage and person screening mechanism in place at the entrance of the medical establishment and number of resting/duty rooms in the Hospital and specific details of the number in each Department, CCTV facilities among others.

The top court directed the Central Bureau of Investigation to submit a status report on the progress in the investigation of the crime at RG Kar Medical College Hospital and asked the State of West Bengal to file a status report on the progress of the investigation on the acts of vandalism which took place at the Hospital in the aftermath of the incident. The top court listed the matter August 22.

(ANI)

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