SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad Aug 16: Indian Medical Association (IMA) Jharkhand president Dr AK Singh has urged Chief Minister Hemant Soren for immediate implementation of the Medical Protection Act (MPA) so that doctors could attend to patients in a fearless atmosphere.
Dr Singh in his letter, which he shot off to the chief minister today, said: “Despite repeated requests to you, no improvement has been made in the health service. Rather, government officials issue orders from time to time to break the morale of government and private doctors. That is not a good sign of the health of the state’s health service.”
“Your government has implemented the ’Old Pension Scheme’ and initiated many steps for social reform in the interest of the people. IMA congratulates you on these revolutionary decisions. So the IMA requests you to kindly amend the Clinical Establishment Act as other state governments have done and implement Medical Protection Act in Jharkhand in the interest of health services,” added Dr Singh in his letter.
The IMA president has pointed out that doctors in the state have been harassed in the name of the Clinical Establishment Act, fire safety, bio-medical waste disposal and user tax by the government’s different department officials. In case of the death of a patient during treatment, doctors have to face threats, assault and sabotage. This is not an isolated incident albeit this unfortunate occurrence is being faced by doctors across the state.
“When you were the leader of opposition in 2019, an IMA delegation had met you in your assembly chamber and you supported the Medical Protection Act. Today, you are the chief minister of Jharkhand and the solution of bailing out doctors from such a crisis is in your hand. So, kindly made amendment in the Clinical Establishment Act and implement the Medical Protection Act without further delay so that health services improve in Jharkhand like any other sector,” said Dr AK Singh.
