BJP member demands attack on doctors be made non-bailable

A BJP member in the Rajya Sabha Friday demanded that attack on doctors by patients be made a non-bailable offence and that fast track courts be set up for trial of such cases.

Raising the issue through a zero hour mention, Vikas Mahatme (BJP) said doctors in the Kolkata government hospital were recently attacked by relatives and friends of a patient.

He said the West Bengal government did not handle the situation well, a remark which evoked vociferous protests from the TMC.

Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu did not allow anything that TMC leader Sukhendu Sekhar Roy said to go on record.

Mahatme demanded there should be fast track courts for trial of cases of attacks on doctors. Also panic buttons should be installed in hospitals to alert authorities about any such incident immediately.

Also, such offence should be made non-bailable, he said.

Shanta Chhetri (TMC), through her zero hour mention, raised the issue of delay by the Centre in according ST status to 11 communities recommended by the West Bengal government.

These communities, she said, meet all the criteria including geographical isolation and extreme backwardness.

The West Bengal government had sent the proposal to the Centre in 2014 and there has been inordinate delay in grant of status, she added.