Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Epidemic Disease Act of 1897 was the principal statute governing healthcare emergencies. This law was created during the colonial era to combat the bubonic plague in Bombay. It was barely three pages long and had only four sections.
Now faced with an unprecedented health emergency, healthcare workers are being depicted as potential spreaders of the COVID-19 pandemic. The public outpouring of rage towards healthcare workers, which results in harassment, violence, and property destruction, is emphasised on a regular basis. As a result, the medical community has demanded protection. The COVID-19 outbreak has created a one-of-a-kind situation in which harassment of the healthcare professionals and others attempting to stop the spread of the illness has occurred on all fronts and in numerous locations, including cremation sites. Several states had enacted special laws to offer protection to doctors and other medical personnel in the past. However, these existing State laws do not have such an ambit. They generally do not cover harassment at home and the workplace and are focused more on physical violence. The penal provisions contained in these laws are not stringent enough to deter mischief-mongering.
Therefore, the Epidemic Disease (Amendment)Bill,2020, was passed last year to make incidents of violence on health workers treating COVID-19 patients a non-bailable and cognisable offence.
The amendments intend to protect health workers from harassment by the public. The amendments will also apply to harassment by landlords and neighbours. Violence against medical staff has been made a cognisable and non-bailable offence. There is a provision for compensation for injury to healthcare personnel or damage or loss to property. And if the damage was done to vehicles or clinics of healthcare workers, compensation amounting to twice the market value of the damaged property would be charged from the accused. In cases of attacks on healthcare workers, the investigation will be completed within 30 days, and the final decision arrived within one year. It is pertinent to mention that the ordinance will protect the whole healthcare fraternity, including doctors, nurses and ASHA workers, from violence during epidemics.
The punishment for such attacks will be three months to five years, and the fine ₹50,000 to ₹2 lakh. In severe cases where there are grievous injuries, the punishment will be six months to seven years and the fine ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh.
In today’s world, the only people who work continuously are healthcare workers. And it is both a moral and legal obligation to safeguard healthcare personnels from the violations they are facing. Even if the present government has amended the Act, it must be supported with strong law enforcement measures. Making an ordinance may not have been difficult, but implementing it will be a major problem for the government of India since there has frequently been a significant gap in enforcing a law.
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