FORDA writes to PM over growing incidents of violence against doctors

New Delhi, April 2 (IANS) The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over incidents of harassment and violence against doctors.

Requesting the PM for the implementation of a Central Act for Protection of Doctors, FORDA said, "Observing the alarming trends, we had submitted representations on multiple occasions requesting the implementation of a Central Act for Protection of Doctors as well as for setting up an Indian Medical Service (IMS) cadre to curb such incidents in the future. Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from the concerned authorities yet."

Recently, the suicide of a lady doctor -- Archna Sharma -- in Rajasthan's Dausa district, who was accused of murder after one of her patient died, sent shock waves across the state and triggered protests even in the national capital.

"The tragic incident of suicide by Archna Sharma in Dausa is one such incident wherein the doctor was harassed by local leaders and goons to an extent that she was compelled to take the extreme step. Subsequently, another incident of harassment by a bureaucrat was reported from Dehradun wherein Nidhi Uniyal resigned from her job at a government medical college," the letter said.

The FORDA requested the Prime Minister to take necessary measures to prevent incidents of harassment and violence against doctors.