Latest news with #HCWs
New Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Centre yet to act on model state law for healthcare workers' safety
NEW DELHI: Following the nationwide protests over the brutal rape and murder of a trainee postgraduate student at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, the Centre had proposed a model state law to protect healthcare workers. However, despite the proposal, the Union Home Ministry and the Union Health Ministry have yet to meet to discuss the law's modalities. This delay comes even as the Centre had earlier backed out of introducing a separate central law for healthcare professionals in 2019. Kerala-based RTI activist Dr K V Babu, who has been pursuing the matter since last year, said the Home Ministry acknowledged through an RTI that the model state law was proposed in 2024. But since its formulation in September last year, he said, both ministries appear 'clueless' about its status. Speaking to TNIE, Dr Babu said that following the incident at RG Kar Medical College, the government proposed drafting the law, as confirmed by the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the Home Ministry in an RTI reply. 'Now, it also seems to be kept in cold storage. This is a deplorable state of affairs, and I hope the Union Home Ministry will pursue the model state law," he said. "I hope the model state act does not meet the same fate as was the case with the proposal to enact a central law for the protection of HCWs, which was mooted by the Ministry of Health in 2019."
New Indian Express
05-05-2025
- Health
- New Indian Express
Non-starter: Centre's new legal shield for health workers after Kolkata rape
NEW DELHI: The Centre had proposed a model state law to protect healthcare workers following the nationwide protests after the rape and murder of a trainee postgraduate student in RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata. However, despite the government's proposal, the Union Home Ministry and the Union Health Ministry are yet to hold a meeting to discuss the modalities of the law. This comes as the Centre has retracted from its earlier proposal of a separate central law to deal with offences against healthcare professionals in 2019. Kerala-based RTI activist Dr K V Babu, who has been pursuing the issue, said the Home Ministry has acknowledged in the RTI that the model state law was proposed last year. However, since the proposal was made in September, he said that both the ministries seem clueless about its status. Dr Babu said that following the RG Kar Medical College case, the government proposed drafting a model state law for the protection of healthcare workers (HCWs), as acknowledged by the Central Public Information Officer of the Home Ministry in the RTI reply. 'Now, it seems to be kept in cold storage. This is a deplorable state of affairs, and I hope the Home Ministry will pursue the model state law,' he said.
