Doctors seek arms licences from Maharashtra government

The Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (Mard) on Friday wrote a letter to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, demanding that they be issued firearm licences to prevent patients’ relatives from assaulting them.

The demand has come in the backdrop of an assault on a doctor in Nanded district in the early hours of Tuesday by three drunken men.

Seven resident doctors have been assaulted while on duty in the state this year. Moreover, since January 2015, 40 such cases have been reported in Maharashtra. Doctors have claimed that in spite of their repeated requests that security be beefed up at hospitals, the government hasn’t paid any heed.

The letter addressed to the chief minister reads, “Immediate provision of firearm license to all doctors and armed personnel to protect them as we no longer feel safe practicing medicine if our own life is in danger (sic).” It has also laid down a deadline of May 30. Mard has also demanded that the punishment period for such crimes under the Doctors Protection Act 2010, be increased to eight years as any punishment less than 7 years is bailable, according to the Supreme Court.

Dr Sagar Mundada, president of Mard, when asked if doctors would actually keep assailants at bay with bullets, said, “We know that the government will not follow through, but we have pitched the idea to make people understand our helplessness.”

Dr Mundada added, “We have repeatedly requested medical education minister Vinod Tawde to allow two relatives to visit a patient at a time, but this hasn’t been implemented. He had given us in writing, in July 2015, that he would implement it. Now, we have been left on our own to save ourselves.”

When The Asian Age sent a message to Dr Pravin Shingare, director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), he said, “I am not aware of any such letter or demands.”