EDITOR’ S NOTE
Safeguarding Our Healers – India ' s Doctors Need Protection
India’ s healthcare system, already burdened by infrastructure gaps, chronic understaffing, and rising patient loads, now faces a deeper, more troubling crisis: the increasing frequency of attacks on doctors and healthcare professionals. The incidents of physical assault, verbal abuse, intimidation, and vandalism have become alarmingly commonplace.
According to the Indian Medical Association( IMA), over 75 % of doctors in India have faced some form of violence in their line of duty, often a manifestation of deeper systemic failures. Overcrowded public hospitals, lack of beds and medicines, long wait times, and poor communication infrastructure all contribute to patient frustration. In such conditions, doctors— already stretched to their emotional and physical limits— become soft targets.
The recent spate of attacks in Punjab, which finally prompted the government to deploy security guards and install CCTV in hospitals, is symptomatic of a wider malaise. It took years of advocacy and tragic incidents before concrete steps were taken. Unfortunately, many other states still lack such safeguards. While the Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions( Prevention of Violence and Damage to Property) Act exists in various state forms, its implementation remains weak. Cases are rarely prosecuted, and perpetrators often go unpunished. A long-pending central law to protect healthcare workers has seen little progress despite repeated appeals. India needs urgent legislation that criminalizes violence against medical personnel with stringent penalties, along with fast-track courts to handle such cases.
Doctors are not gods, but neither are they dispensable. In a country that depends so heavily on its overworked, underappreciated healthcare workforce, we must not allow them to become scapegoats for larger failures. The time has come for a national awakening— to ensure that those who save lives are not forced to fear for their own. India must stand by its healers. For in protecting them, we are protecting the health and soul of our nation.
We look forward to your ideas and feedback.
Yours’ truly
CHIEF EDITOR Write to me at rk @ biovoicenews. com
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