As many as 71 Padma Awardee doctors penned a letter to Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, regarding the "horrific" events that have been unfolding at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal, starting with the rape-murder of 31-year-old female doctor on August 9.
In the letter, dated Sunday, August 19, the awardees implored the PM's "immediate and personal intervention".
"We stand in unwavering solidarity with the victim’s family, whose pain and loss are unimaginable. We also extend our full support to the medical community, who are increasingly confronting such violence in the course of their work. The safety and dignity of healthcare professionals must be safeguarded with utmost priority," they wrote.
In five points, they listed their recommendations, which are:
1) Stricter enforcement of existing laws
2) Harsher and time-bound punishments for perpetrators of sexual violence
3) Enhanced safety measures in hospitals and medical institutions
4) Enactment and implementation of a special law for the protection of healthcare workers
5) Harshest possible punishment for violence against healthcare workers
"We earnestly appeal to you through this letter to safeguard the medical profession against physical assaults and defacement of the dignity and respect of all healthcare workers," they said.
Those who penned letter are:
Dr Harsh Mahajan
Dr Anoop Misra
Dr A K Grover
Dr Alka Kriplani
Dr Mohsin Wali
Dr Ambrish Mithal
Dr Pradeep Chowbey
Dr Anil Kohli
Dr Arvind Lal
Dr Ashok Seth
Dr Balram Bhargava
Dr Mahesh Verma
Dr Mahipal Sachdev
Dr N P Gupta
Dr P K Julka
Dr Praveen Chandra
Dr Raman Kapur
Dr Randeep Guleria
Dr Shashank Joshi
Dr Shiv Kumar Sarin
Dr Sudhir Shah
Dr Upendra Kaul
Dr Yash Gulati
Dr (Lt Gen) B N Shahi
Dr Devendra Triguna
Dr Dinesh Bhargava
Dr Balbir Singh
Dr Ganesh K Mani
Dr Lalit Kumar
Dr M Khalilullah
Dr Purshotam Lal
Dr R K Grover
Dr S P Yadav
Dr Atul Kumar
Dr Arvinder Singh Soin
Dr D S Rana
Dr T S Kler
Dr Daljeet Singh Gambhir
Dr Himmatrao Bawaskar
Dr Jagdish Prasad
Dr Jeewan S Titiyal
Dr K K Sethi
Dr K K Naik
Dr Malvika Sabharwal
Dr Manjula Anagani
Dr Narendra Pandey
Dr Naresh Trehan
Dr Neelam Kler
Dr Nikhil Tandon
Dr N K Ganguly
Dr Nitish Naik
Dr Nosher Shroff
Air Marshal Dr Padma Bandopadhyay
Dr P K Sethi
Dr Ashok Gupta
Prof J M Hans
Prof R K Grover
Dr Ravindra Kolhe
Dr Sandeep Guleria
Dr Sanjeev Bagai
Dr Randhir Sud
Dr Deepak Sehgal
Dr S C Manchanda
Dr Saumitra Rawat
Dr Raminder Grover
Dr M.V Padma Srivastava
Dr Harsh Kumar
Dr A K Bhalla
Dr B K Rao
Dr S P Mandal
Dr Ashok Vaid
