Centre to form panel to improve safety of healthcare professionals amid nationwide doctors' protests

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) announced on Saturday that it will form a committee to recommend measures for improving the safety of healthcare professionals.

MoHFW's announcement comes as doctors across the country launched a 24-hour nationwide protest, demanding justice for the rape and murder of a colleague at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

The ministry said representatives of all stakeholders, including the state governments, will be invited to share their suggestions with the committee.

It has requested the doctors agitating across the country to resume their duties in the larger public interest and in view of the rising number of dengue and malaria cases.

Representatives of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA), Indian Medical Association (IMA) and resident doctors' associations of government medical colleges and hospitals of Delhi met the Union health minister in the wake of the Kolkata incident.

The associations have put forth their demands regarding the safety and security of healthcare workers at their workplaces, the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry has heard the demands and assured the doctors' associations of all possible efforts to ensure the security of healthcare professionals.

The representatives of the associations were informed that the government is well aware of the situation and sensitive to their demands, the statement said.

It was also observed that 26 states have already passed laws for the protection of healthcare workers.

"In view of the concerns expressed by the associations, the ministry assured them of constituting a committee to suggest all such possible measures for ensuring the safety of healthcare professionals.

"Representatives of all stakeholders, including the state governments, will be invited to share their suggestions with the committee," the statement said.