Death of a doctor - Ek Doctor Ki Maut—Time to boost the ailing and failing public health system in India

Recently, Dr Deben Dutta who was volunteering at a tea estate in the Assam state of India was beaten to death by a strong mob of 250 persons. Earlier a junior doctor was grievously injured leaving a fracture in skull by a similar furious mob at NRS Medical College Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal. Not long ago policemen were seen assaulting a doctor on duty in the CCTV in Bihar. A yet another video showed a politician slapping a senior professor. Such incidences are not uncommon in India these days where doctors have become punching bags for everyone. There are multiple dimensions to this issue, however, the main reason is overcrowding, often leading to inhuman situations but often overlooked. Doubling and tripling (more than one patient on one bed) of beds is a norm. Three patients on one bed is common visual at public hospitals. There is a demand of stringent punishment (12 years) for any citizen for attack on doctors. A new act cannot suspend fundamental rights guaranteed under the constitution of India. State has primary duty to protect the right to live with human dignity as fundamental rights of each citizen, both doctor/patients alike under article 21 of the constitution.