National Task Force for Safety of Medical Professionals

The National Task Force (NTF) for safety of medical professionals at the workplace was set up by the Supreme Court of India in the aftermath of the rape and murder of a trainee doctor at R. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, West Bengal. On 20 August 2024, a three-judge bench led by the Supreme Court Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud and including Justice J. B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra constituted a 10-member task force to work out modalities for safety of medical professionals at the workspace.

Background

A post-graduate trainee doctor was raped and murdered at R. G. Kar Medical College in Kolkata on 9 August 2024, which sparked protests across India. The case was first investigated by Kolkata Police and then, on the order by Calcutta High Court, by the Central Bureau of Investigation. On 18 August 2024, the Supreme Court of India took suo moto cognizance of the case. A three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by the Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud heard the matter on 20 August 2024 and constituted a National Task Force (NTF) to ensure workplace safety for medical professionals. The NTF was asked by the Supreme Court to submit its interim report within three weeks and the final report within two months.

Members

• Surgeon Vice Admiral Aarti Sarin AVSM VSM
• Dr. D. Nageshwar Reddy: Chairman of the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology and AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad
• Dr. M. Srinivas: Director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
• Dr. Pratima Murthy: Director and a senior professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore
• Dr. Goverdhan Dutt Puri: Executive Director of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur
• Dr. Saumitra Rawat: Chairperson of the Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, GI and HPB Onco-Surgery, and Liver Transplantation at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi
• Dr. Anita Saxena: Vice-Chancellor of Pandit B D Sharma Medical University, Rohtak
• Dr. Pallavi Saple: Dean, Grant Medical College and Sir J J Group of Hospitals, Mumbai
• Dr. Padma Srivastava: Chairperson of Neurology at Paras Healthcare, Gurugram
• Ex-officio members:
  • Cabinet Secretary to the Government of India
  • Union Home Secretary
  • Union Health Secretary
  • Chairperson, National Medical Commission (NMC)
  • President, National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS)

Activities

The NTF held its first meeting on 27 August 2024. As a key outcome of the meeting, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare created a national portal to seek suggestions from individuals and different stakeholders across the country on the matter of workplace safety for medical professionals. The NTF has received 300-400 suggestions from various stakeholders to date.