“Medical institutions violating standards with impunity”: UDF files PIL in SC to ensure 48 hours of duty for resident doctors
Seeking better work conditions for resident doctors across India, the United Doctors’ Front (UDF) has filed a petition with the Supreme Court (SC) of India requesting their intervention in the matter.
Through the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed yesterday, April 24, the front sheds light on the “excessive, unregulated, and exploitative duty hours” that resident doctors are forced to work “in clear contravention of constitutional and statutory manners,” and their effects on their well-being.
“The egregious imposition of 70 to 100 working hours per week, often without sufficient rest, leads to chronic stress, physical exhaustion, mental health deterioration, and ultimately, preventable tragedies including suicides,” the petition reads.
To illustrate the impact of these long hours, the petition cites a report by a National Medical Commission (NMC) task force on the mental health and well-being of medical students, which claims that over 150 medical students died by suicide in the five years, primarily due to work-related stress and sleep deprivation.
The petition also mentions the non-implementation of the Uniform Residency Scheme, 1992, with “medical institutions routinely violating the prescribed standards with impunity.”
The scheme was introduced in 1992 by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, following a Supreme Court directive to formulate a defining base for all resident doctors working in India.
According to the scheme, junior resident doctors were to work for 48 hours a week, and not more than 12 hours a day — with the working hours subject to flexibility and the Medical Superintendent’s discretion according to the workload and availability of doctors.
UDF and several other resident doctors’ associations in India have been alleging that while these guidelines exist on paper, they have yet to be implemented.
Recently, however, there seemed to be a shift in the tide, with the Union Government agreeing to fix the working hours to 48 hours a week following a meeting between the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and several resident doctor associations’ leaders on April 22.
EdexLive reported that the breakthrough was achieved following long debates, especially around the term “reasonable working hours”. In addition, demands for public display of work directives and five additional days for vacation also “received a positive response.”
However, according to Dr Lakshya Mittal, National President of UDF, the key issue is ensuring that the guidelines are implemented diligently.
“The guidelines exist, but the accountability to implement them doesn’t rest with anyone in particular. Even the DGHS didn’t have immediate answers when we wanted to know who was responsible for ensuring that they were being implemented, or when that accountability system would be set up,” he said.
This petition, he says, is a step in ensuring that accountability is created. “There is no point to the guidelines if medical institutions can get away with not implementing them,” he explained.
Therefore, the petition lists the following prayers before the Supreme Court:
Issuing directions to all government and private medical institutions to implement the 1992 directives on the number of hours of duty,
Directing concerned authorities to prepare and enforce duty rosters that respect human psychological and physical limitations
Establishing enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with regulations
“The continuous exploitation of Resident Doctors is not merely an administrative lapse but a violation of their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life with dignity,” the petition says.
UDF is represented by advocates Satyam Singh and Meena, who are Advocates on Record (AOR) in this case.
