According to the PIL, resident doctors are being forced to work much longer hours than what is legally permitted, which is affecting their health, mental well-being, and even patient care.
NEW DELHI: The United Doctors Front (UDF) has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, raising serious concerns about the extreme and exploitative working conditions faced by resident doctors in medical colleges and teaching hospitals across the country.
According to the PIL, resident doctors are being forced to work much longer hours than what is legally permitted, which is affecting their health, mental well-being, and even patient care.
The petition points out that a notification issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 5, 1992, clearly says that resident doctors should not work more than 12 hours a day and 48 hours a week. However, UDF has told the Court that these rules are not being followed anywhere.
In the petition, UDF has strongly stated, “Resident Doctors are subjected to excessive, unregulated, and exploitative duty hours in clear contravention of established constitutional and statutory mandates.”
The UDF explained in the PIL that resident doctors are regularly made to work between 70 and 100 hours per week without any proper rest. This, they say, is causing chronic stress, physical exhaustion, and worsening mental health among doctors.
These conditions, the petition argues, are a violation of the doctors’ fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life with dignity.
The PIL highlights the findings of the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students, which found that over 150 medical students had died by suicide in the past five years.
According to the UDF, these tragic deaths are linked to “work-related stress, sleep deprivation, and a general state of institutional apathy.”
The petition also criticises the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, for being too vague. These regulations only mention that resident doctors should have “reasonable working hours“ but do not clearly define what is reasonable or enforce any limits.
Furthermore, UDF refers to an Office Memorandum issued by the Registrar of AIIMS on September 6, 2020, which reminded all departments to follow the 1992 rule.
But UDF claims this had no real effect:
“Despite reiterating the importance of complying with the 1992 Notification, it failed to bring about any effective change.”
In support of their case, UDF also refers to a recent judgment by the Supreme Court in the RG Kar Medical College case dated August 22, 2024, where the Court had called the working conditions of resident doctors “inhuman.”
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The UDF argued that such conditions are not only harmful to doctors but also put the safety of patients at risk, as overworked doctors are more likely to make mistakes.
In their prayer to the Court, UDF has requested the following:
“Issue a writ of Mandamus or an appropriate order directing all government and private medical colleges/institutions in India to implement the residency duty hours as prescribed in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s Directive dated 05 June 1992. Direct the concerned authorities to prepare and enforce duty rosters that respect the physical and psychological limitations of human beings.”
The United Doctors Front is being represented in this matter by:
- Dr. Lakshya Mittal (President of UDF)
- Advocate Satyam Singh
- Advocate Neema (AOR)
The matter is currently awaiting listing for hearing in the Supreme Court of India.
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