Agra: Faced with increasing threats from kidnappers, doctors in Agra will undergo training of a different kind - learning the use of firearms for self-defence.
The doctors will spend more time at the shooting range than in their clinics when a programme drawn up by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) is implemented early next month.
After a spate of abductions by criminal gangs, the doctors have been holding emergency sessions for the past week and meeting politicians and district authorities to work out a foolproof security arrangement.
Over 60 doctors have applied for licences for firearms. They would start practising at the firing range near Dayalbagh, developed at the initiative of Municipal Commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav.
The doctors this week met Yadav, who is also the coach of the Indian shooting team, and requested him to allow them to use the shooting range.
While Yadav gave the go-ahead, the IMA has mounted pressure on the district officials to promptly clear arms licences for the threatened medical community, said IMA president Sharad Gupta.
The latest threat was received by Rajiv Upadhyaya who refused to give in and galvanised the medical fraternity to wake up to the challenge seriously.
Said Upadhyaya: "Instead of fearing the gangsters, we should all collectively face the threat and devise methods to foil their attempts."
While Pankaj Mahendru, director of Apollo Hospital, said there was no ground for fear, gynaecologist Alka Sen said: "We know how to defend ourselves."
In the past two years, at least a dozen doctors have either received threats or have been abducted.
Well-known dermatologist G G Dheer was abducted from his clinic by gunmen but was released within hours when the police swung into action.
Rahul Sahai and Munishwar Gupta are other doctors who have been victims of Agra's flourishing kidnapping industry.
"The kidnappers have political patronage. That's how they manage to get away," said another senior doctor.
What baffles people here is the fact that only doctors working in Agra district have been targeted while those in neighbouring districts are not.
The reason could be the high profile and the earning capacity of these doctors, many of whom charge Rs 300-Rs500 per patient. Some private practitioners examine up to 100 patients a day.
A medical 'bazaar' has come up in the Bagh Farzana, Professor Colony and Delhi Gate areas and attract thousands of patients a day. Some doctors even have commission agents to lure patients to their clinics.
Social activist Padmini Iyer of the Women and Child Development Society said: "While doctors need all security and freedom to carry on their professional duties, the medical practitioners would do well to foster a culture of humanism and a pro-poor orientation."
Comments
0 comment