No record of cases of violence against doctors, says Govt

New Delhi: Even though the incidents of attacks on doctors are on the rise, there is no record of such instances in the record book of the government.

The shocking revelation has come to notice during a reply of a question asked by the ruling party member Aparajita Sarangi, a bureaucrat turned politician.

In response to the question seeking the record of the number of instances of attacks on doctors during the last five years, MoS Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey informed Lok Sabha that the Health Ministry has taken several measures, including issuing advisories to all states/UTs, to prevent violence against doctors and for inculcating an effective sense of security among the doctors on duty.

Choubey further informed the House that 'health' and 'law & order' being state subjects, the details of number of instances of attacks on doctors are not maintained centrally.

The MoS Health further informed the House that on a subsequent occasion, Health Ministry wrote to the chief ministers of all states to ensure rule of law so that doctors and clinical establishments may discharge their duties and professional pursuit without any fear of violence.

In another reply to a question seeking details of targeted population to be vaccinated during 2021, especially in Bihar, Choubey, who himself hails from Bihar, informed the House that in view of dynamic nature of Covid-19 pandemic and inclusion of new priority groups for vaccination, no specific target for the population to be vaccinated is set.

However, he said, "The Covid-19 vaccination is an ongoing and dynamic process, which is being expanded to include beneficiary groups as prioritised by National Expert Group on vaccine administration for Covid-19."