All medical officers and para medical staff of the civil hospital and ESI Hospital in Hoshiarpur on Monday held a protest against the recent violent incident in which senior medical officer (SMO) Dr Sunil Bhagat got injured and had to be hospitalised.

PCMS Association state president Dr Akhil Sareen and general secretary Dr Vaninder Riar joined the protest at the gate of the civil hospital.

Gate rallies were held at all public health institutions of the state to draw the government’s attention towards recurring incidents of violence against the medical fraternity.

Addressing the media, Dr Sareen said that the PCMS doctors had met the state health minister Dr Balbir Singh, who promised to set up a district-level grievances redressal system and ensure adequate security at district hospitals via police and outsourced staff. He said that the minister also agreed to ban videography in the hospital premises and clarified that in case of any such untoward incident in future, the institution head would be responsible to get an FIR registered and hold an institutional inquiry.

Sareen said the association would be forced to take strict action if the government fails to fulfil its promise.

Hoshiarpur civil surgeon Dr Balwinder Damana said that all treatment expenses of Dr Bhagat were being borne by the government. He said that Dr Bhagat’s condition continued to be critical.

Posted at the ESI Hospital, Dr Sunil Bhagat had fallen down and suffered brain haemorrhage during a scuffle with a patient’s attendant on April 18 and is under treatment at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. The police had arrested the accused and registered an attempt to murder case against him.