New Delhi: The National Task Force, constituted by the Supreme Court against the backdrop of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, has convened its first meeting on August 27, according to official sources.
As per the sources, the meeting is expected to be attended by all the members of the National Task Force. The NTF will make recommendations to ensure the safety and security of medical professionals at their workplace.
National Task Force member Dr Saumitra Rawat earlier told that the top court has asked the task force to file an interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months.
Dr Rawat, who is also the Chairman and Head of the Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, SGRH, further explained the areas that will be focussed in the report regarding the safety of doctors and nurses and said, “We are expected to work in two different areas, it has been told to us by the CJI – the first issue is preventing violence against medical professional, second is to draft a national protocol for dignified and safe working for the doctors, nurses and all the paramedical staffs.”
“So we, or everybody in the committee, we will work together, and we will come up with the guidelines,” he added.
According to an office memorandum issued by the Union Health Ministry, the 14-member NTF has been constituted with the composition of Ex-officio Members and experts of the medical profession, Cabinet Secretary, Government of India – Chairperson, Home Secretary, Government of India, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – Member Secretary Government of India, Chairperson, National Medical Commission, President, National Board of Examinations, Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, AVSM, VSM, Director General Medical Services (Navy), Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman and Managing Director, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad, Dr M Srinivas, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, (AIIMS), Delhi, Dr Pratima Murthy, Director, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, Dr Goverdhan Dutt Puri, Executive Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur Dr Saumitra Rawat, Chairperson, Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, GI and HPB Onco-Surgery and Liver Transplantation and Member, Board of Management, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, Professor Anita Saxena, Vice-Chancellor, Pandit BD Sharma Medical University, Rohtak, Formerly Dean of Academics, Chief-Cardiothoracic Centre and Head Cardiology Department at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Dr Pallavi Saple, Dean, Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai and Dr Padma Srivastava, formerly Professor at the Department of Neurology.
