Tripura house passes bill to check attacks on doctors

A bill was passed in the Tripura assembly to protect government doctors and employees working in hospitals and medical centres from violent mobs, officials said here Tuesday. Violence against doctors may now attract three-year jail.

"A bill has been passed in the assembly Monday following the recurrence of incidents of violence inside hospitals after alleged negligence in treatment of patients," a health department official told reporters.

The Tripura Medicare Service Persons and Medicare Service Institutions (prevention of violence and damage to property) Bill, 2013, was prepared in line with the same act of the Maharashtra government.

According to the bill, violence against medicare service person or anything that causes any damage to the property of any health service institution, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term up to three years and with fine which may extend to Rs.50,000. The offence would be treated as cognizable and non-bailable.