“Soldiers are protecting the citizens from the tangible nemesis, but doctors are fighting a war with intangibles”
As the world has succumbed to this deadly virus, doctors are fighting forefront not with guns but with a lack of health infrastructure and administration. In 2020, the world was not prepared for this kind of pandemic because there are still so many countries who haven’t even have a health care system and they are struggling the worst for instances, Yemen is facing the worst humanitarian crisis in hundred years, they are so many other countries who all are facing the same problem. In this pandemic, we have to stay together so that we can fight such a crisis without losing more people.
On Wednesday the Supreme Court directed the center to issue directions to states and union territories for complying with payment of full wages to doctors healthcare workers. The three-judge bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan directed the center to also issue a direction to states to comply with providing accommodations to healthcare workers.
The court also directed some instructions for all the healthcare workers and the doctors who are treating the COVID-19 patients must be kept under quarantine for at least a week. This was issued by the health ministry on Thursday.
The court has pointed out that any violation by states will be treated as an offense under the Disaster Management Act and will be held liable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code that is the “Disobedience to order duly promulgated by the public servant”. The court has given a month’s time to the center for the compliance after which the hearing will take place.
Supreme court has said last week that the country so going under the worst pandemic after hundred years and we cannot afford to have ” dissatisfied soldiers” in the war against the invisible.
On June 12 court pointed out during the hearing, “In war, you do not make soldiers unhappy. Travel the extra mile and channel some extra money to address their grievances. Country cannot afford to have dissatisfied soldiers in this war which is being fought against Corona.” The bench also noted that they are many reports coming that in many areas doctors are not being paid.
It had said, “We saw a report that doctors went on strike. In Delhi, some doctors have not been paid for the past three months. These are concerns that should have been taken care of. It should not require court intervention”.
On April 8, the apex court had observed that the doctors and medical staff are the ” first line of the defense of the country” in the battle against the intangible and unknown novel coronavirus if we don’t provide our frontier warriors with the proper and appropriate equipment, in this case, PPEs and are other essential should be made available for them for treating coronavirus patients.
