Resent in the time of Corona - Attacks on healthcare workers cause ordinance release

One example of this is the Padarayanapura incident which took place on 19th April in one of the 19 containment wards in Bengaluru. BBMP officials along with workers from the ASHA foundation had entered the ward to relocate 15 secondary contacts of coronavirus positive patients to a quarantine facility, when they were attacked. The mob broke down police barriers, damaged BBMP set-up equipment and roughed up the workers and officials. Police reinforcement had to be sent in to take control of the situation. 

Among the 54 arrested is a woman, who is said to have instigated the

the mob. 

Apart from attacks on healthcare personnel, philanthropes delivering rations to migrant workers have also been attacked and mobbed, preventing them from entering or exiting wards and dealing damage to their vehicles. 

In view of these attacks, Prakash Javadekar in a cabinet briefing announced an ordinance issued by the government aimed at protecting the healthcare workers across the country. The ordinance issued makes attacking a healthcare worker a cognizable and non-bailable offence with imprisonment ranging from six months to seven years in serious cases and imprisonment ranging from three months to five years in non-serious cases. The ordinance amended the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 to also include fines for perpetrators of violence against medical staff ranging from Rs. 50,000 to Rs.5,00,000 depending on the severity of the act committed.

The ordinance also includes a provision to recover damages to medical equipment and transport, by requiring the perpetrators to pay a an amount double the market value of the item that has been damaged due to the violence.

However, these attacks also bring to light the saddening issue of people being misinformed about the virus and the government’s intentions. It also goes to show that the subject of quarantine and infection has been stigmatized by society. While fighting fire with fire is always an effective solution in this case, the underlying issue that provokes this violence cannot go unaddressed much longer.

Written by: Krithika Kannan