A conflict between a doctor at the Government Tiruvannamalai Medical College and disability rights activists escalated on Wednesday, with doctors of the college continuing to stage a dharna and demanding the arrest of some activists.
As of Wednesday evening, no one had been arrested, but Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association State president K. Senthil said talks had failed and that the doctors’ protest would be intensified on Thursday.
The issue began on Monday when R. Ragavanandham, an assistant orthopaedics professor, who attended a camp organised to provide certificates to persons with disabilities, denied certificates to three persons. One of them was P. Sivaprakash (55) of Aiyyampalayam, whose right arm was amputated up to elbow and who was allegedly asked to come after his injury was completely healed. This evoked a protest from disability rights activists who assembled there and did not allow the doctor to exit for about four hours, following which the doctor fainted and was taken to the ICU of the hospital.
On Tuesday, doctors at the college staged a dharna and boycotted outpatient services and non-emergency surgeries. Though police booked a case against three activists, including Venkatesan, Ramesh and Kumar under different sections of the IPC, the protesting doctors demanded the invoking of the Tamil Nadu Hospital Protection Act and the immediate arrest of the three.
On Tuesday night, police added section 48 of the Hospital Protection Act. District Collector Prashant M. Wadnere and Superintendent of Police R. Ponni visited the hospital on Wednesday evening. SP Ponni said arrests were not mandatory but she would complete the investigation quickly and file a charge-sheet in 20 days. The doctors, however, were not satisfied and decided to continue their protest.
N. Lakshmi Narasimhan, State president of the Service Doctors and Post Graduates Association, and Sridhar, District Secretary of TNGDA, said that doctors at government hospitals and primary health centres in the district would also boycott all services except emergencies, and government doctors across the State would wear black badges as a symbol of protest. If their demands were not met, government doctors across the State would join in the boycott, they said.
Dr. Senthil said the doctor had refused the certificate only as the amputation wound had not been healed and said this was as per procedure. “He had already disbursed 60-odd certificates.” Dr. Senthil said that for several hours the doctor had no access to food, water or a rest room.
“There was no reason to deny the persons the certificate. This is an ongoing issue in the district. If there was a procedural problem, Form 5 could have been filled and given to the disabled person, which was not done. If that was the case, how did another doctor later give all the three persons the certificate?” said T.M.N. Deepak, State president, December 3 movement, who is in Tiruvannamalai, adding that the problem had originally arisen due to denial of railway concession certificates.
‘Difficulties faced’
Disability rights activists have pointed out that persons with disabilities continue to face difficulties in obtaining certificates and that doctors are not sensitised in providing these certificates. “People are made to run from pillar to post and then forced to wait for hours with no facilities available,” said Smitha Sadasivan, member, Disability Rights Alliance, Tamil Nadu.
The certificates are required to obtain ID cards. To obtain railway concessions, a separate disability certificate is needed.
“A 2011 government order states that primary health centres can certify locomotor disabilities by way of amputation or permanent paralysis but this is not implemented at all,” said S. Nambu Rajan, State General Secretary, Tamil NaduAssociation for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & Caregivers
“In 2013, the Health Secretary sent a letter stating that persons with disabilities who had their disability certificate should be given the rail concession certificate without denial, but this too is not being followed,” said Mr. Nambu Rajan. He said the doctors, in many cases, did not know about the disability evaluation tool itself.
