As RG Kar Medical College and Hospital reels from the horrific rape and murder of a 31-year-old post-graduate resident on duty, the entire nation is shocked. We offer the bare minimum to our doctors, the brightest minds, and the children parents brag about when they crack one of the toughest examinations in the world. These are the people who dedicate their existence to saving lives and to the science of medicine.
Those who are not surprised are likely the same medicos who spend cherished hours of their night duty on a bug-infested bed in a filthy cubbyhole, wishing for exhaustion to bring brief rest before the next stretcher rolls in. As a fresh intern, I did not realise that I was in a position to demand more. We slept on benches, granite slabs, or the floor of overflowing rooms, changed in nurses’ rooms due to lack of separate spaces for women doctors, and endured groping by drunk patients and assaults from patient attendants. Often unrecognized as doctors, we were mistaken for nurses or support staff—it all seemed part of a grand adventure called MBBS.
After all, my seniors went through it too and my juniors will continue to. It felt like a rite of passage, as if this constant deprivation would anoint us with a crown, the one we spend 20-25 years of our lives striving for—the magical two letters before our name. Demanding more was seen as onerous, and invited sermons on public service and fund crunch. As an IAS officer, I rage. We need better policies, systems, and logistics. It shouldn’t take a blood-curdling rape and murder to make us address these issues.
Also read: I’m an Indian woman, I’m tired of outraging. Jharkhand tourist gangrape won’t change a thing
Time for change is now
A cursory study of the Minimum Standard Requirements for Medical College (January 2018) reveals no mention of separate duty rooms for women doctors or students. There are no prescribed security protocols for women’s hostels. Similarly, the Indian Public Health standards lack provisions for women doctors in rural or urban health centres. This is particularly unfortunate as the health sector is arguably one of the most women-driven sectors in the country, employing not only women doctors but also nurses, ayahs (support staff), conservancy staff, and the big, robust force of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs).
While a central protection act for healthcare workers has long been demanded by the medical fraternity, without mandatory infrastructural stipulations, thousands of doctors will be forced to work in unsafe and potentially dangerous conditions. The need of the hour is to look at medical colleges, hospitals, and caregiving centres through the lens of women’s safety.
As basic as it sounds, having a separate room for women doctors and a changing room in every clinical department, along with safety protocols like CCTV at the entrance, access control, and regular sanitation, is crucial for building safer spaces for women doctors. Similar facilities should be extended to other women healthcare staff, such as nurses, if not already available. Security protocols for women’s hostels must be clearly defined, and there should be ample access to female toilets. The government should also mandate minimum security staffing per square footage.
The Vishaka committee must be active across the health institutions, and a zero-tolerance policy for workplace sexual harassment should be strictly enforced. While these measures won’t be institutionalised until a regular compliance audit is done by authorities, at the least they shall be a reminder to our medicos that they deserve more—they are entitled to better working conditions. The right to a safe workplace is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees protection of life and personal liberty.
These measures should not have taken 77 years of Independence, nor should they come at the cost of a daughter, a doctor’s life. The time to act is now. Generations are watching us with trepidation in their hearts and horror in their eyes. Let’s promise every doctor—who pledges the age-old ‘First, do no harm’, as the first adage of medicine—a resonant and definite, “First, we shall not let you be harmed.”
The author is a young IAS officer and a doctor. Views are personal.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)
Akash Banerjee statements from Deshbhakt channel on YouTube is right. Both Central and state governments know that these protests will happen for few days and everything will come back to normal, so they will never take any serious steps to curb the menace of rape. It will happen again and again and no politician who holds power will not take any positive action that can bring in some change.
Watchmen are the first to flee in the event of a commotion in a hospital. As a side effect of socialism, India can’t afford to recruit more police personnel to provide security to hospitals. The money is needed to do socialism and win votes during elections. Civil servants should disobey their political masters, force them to recruit adequate police personnel to increase safety index.
When toilets in private medical colleges themselves are unusable, imagine the state of affairs in government medical colleges.