NTF Report to Supreme Court: “No Need” for Central Law to Protect Healthcare Workers
The National Task Force (NTF), constituted by the Supreme Court following the RG Kar Medical College incident, has submitted its report stating that a separate central law to protect healthcare professionals is not required. The task force argued that existing state legislations and the provisions under the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) are sufficient to address and punish violence against medical staff if strictly enforced.
Instead of enacting new legislation, the NTF emphasized the urgent need to strengthen institutional safety measures. Their recommendations focus on operational security, including the mandatory installation of CCTV cameras, strict visitor access control, regular security audits, and the deployment of trained security personnel across medical facilities.
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The report also laid out procedural guidelines, such as ensuring that an FIR is filed within six hours of any incident of violence. This conclusion stands in direct contrast to the long-standing demands of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) and other resident doctors associations , who have consistently argued that state laws are too inconsistent to provide adequate deterrence.
“Ultimately, the assurance that ‘existing laws are sufficient’ offers cold comfort to the intern on a night shift, who knows that in the volatile chaos of an emergency room, safety is rarely guaranteed by a statute in a book, but by the tangible fear of consequence, which remains visibly absent.”
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