Laws Not Enough, Doctors Must Be Protected In Real Time: Kerala Opposition On Ordinance

On the other hand, medical professionals welcomed the ordinance passed by the Kerala government and await to witness how new act is going to be executed.

The Opposition leader VD Satheesan also pitched for making the offences non-bailable.

Source : Twitter/@vdsatheesan

After the passing of an ordinance providing stringent punishments for offences against healthcare workers, Congress-led UDF on Wednesday said that making laws alone is not important but the doctors should be protected in real-time.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, VD Satheesan, Leader of Opposition said, "Making laws is not enough. They (doctors) should be protected. We need police officers to be there protecting the doctors, instead of running away. That is what happened recently. You saw them run away."

"Even the Kerala High Court said that the state and the police failed to protect the young doctor," he said.

The Opposition leader also pitched for making the offences non-bailable. Satheesan said that providing stringent punishments are not enough if the offences were bailable. 

"You need to make the offences non-bailable as punishments would be given by courts only after a trial which will take time," he said.

So, releasing them on bail after arrest will not act as a deterrent no matter how stringent the punishment is, he added.

On the other hand, medical professionals welcomed the ordinance passed by the Kerala government. The Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA) president Dr Suresh said, "We already had an Act to protect doctors and hospital properties from such attacks. So how this new act is going to be executed is more important."

However, Suresh also said that there are other issues that need immediate attention from the government. The issues include a shortage of doctors in government hospitals among others.

President of the House Surgeons' Association Dr Ananya Wilson appreciated the government's initiative. She said that the young doctors are waiting to see how it is going to be implemented.

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(With PTI inputs)