NEW DELHI — In an unprecedented display of collective distress and professional solidarity, more than 70 Padma Awardee doctors from across India have formally petitioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding his immediate personal intervention. The urgent communication was drafted following the horrific rape and murder of a 31-year-old postgraduate trainee doctor inside the seminar room of Kolkata’s RG Kar Medical College and Hospital.
The signatories—representing the highest echelons of Indian clinical medicine, research, and healthcare administration—expressed “deep concern and profound anguish”. They explicitly warned that such acts of extreme brutality threaten to collapse the very foundations of healthcare delivery by stripping frontline medical professionals of their fundamental sense of workplace security.
A Unified Front of India’s Medical Elite
The list of eminent signatories features some of the most respected names in contemporary Indian medicine, including:
- Dr. Randeep Guleria (Pulmonologist and Former Director, AIIMS New Delhi)
- Dr. Balram Bhargava (Former Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research – ICMR)
- Dr. Harsh Mahajan (Eminent Radiologist)
- Dr. M V Padma Srivastava (Renowned Neurologist)
- Dr. Anoop Misra (Endocrinologist), Dr. Ashok Seth (Cardiologist), and Dr. Ambrish Mithal (Endocrinologist)
By bypassing local administrative channels and writing directly to the Prime Minister, these veteran clinicians highlighted that the crisis at RG Kar is no longer just a localized law-and-order issue. Instead, they characterized it as a systemic, national failure regarding the safety of healthcare workers, particularly women and young postgraduate trainees who form the backbone of the public healthcare infrastructure.
Crucial Legislative Demands: The 2019 Bill and the Call for an Ordinance
A central focal point of the petition is the immediate legislative revival of “The Prevention of Violence Against Doctors, Medical Professionals and Medical Institutions Bill”. The medical luminaries reminded the government that this crucial piece of legislation has been drafted and ready since 2019 but has remained stalled without being formally tabled in Parliament.
The 2019 draft bill outlines strict legal protections, proposing up to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and a penalty fine of up to ₹10 lakh for any individual found guilty of committing physical violence against healthcare workers while on duty. Given the gravity of the current situation, the Padma laureates urged the Central Government to bypass standard legislative delays by introducing an immediate Central Ordinance. This ordinance would instantly make any form of verbal or physical violence against clinical staff a non-bailable, severely punishable offense nationwide.
Actionable Recommendations for Hospital Administrations
To ensure this report provides actionable utility for hospital directors, clinical heads, and medical practitioners reading this publication, the specific structural reforms demanded by the Padma awardees in their letter include:
- Strict Enforcement of Existing Frameworks: Demanding that law enforcement agencies aggressively apply current legal structures to penalize immediate threats to medical personnel.
- Swift, Time-Bound Judicial Proceedings: Calling for expedited investigations and fast-track court trials for perpetrators of sexual and physical violence within hospital walls.
- Rigorous Infrastructure Upgrades: Mandating comprehensive safety protocols, including mandatory high-definition CCTV coverage across all hospital corridors, secure and gender-segregated on-call duty rooms, and strictly regulated access control parameters for public visitors.
The unified stance of these highly decorated doctors reflects a critical turning point for medicine in India. For the medical fraternity, this high-level appeal serves as an urgent reminder that professional excellence cannot exist without basic physical safety, pushing the country toward definitive, centralized legal protection for its healers.
