The Supreme Court has issued notice to the Centre and NMC on a PIL challenging ‘inhuman’ duty hours of resident doctors, as petitioners highlighted “exploitative and unconstitutional working conditions” imposed on young medical professionals across hospitals nationwide.
The United Doctors Front (UDF) has submitted a Public Interest Litigation to the Supreme Court, highlighting the exploitative working conditions of resident doctors in India. They report that doctors often work 70-100 hours weekly, violating established regulations, impacting health and patient safety. The UDF seeks enforcement of proper duty hours as per existing guidelines.
The Rajasthan High Court, while observing that doctors and lawyers are not expected to resort to strike, has urged the resident doctors of JARD to call off their strike as it allegedly created a “dismaying situation that the general public.” The Court allowed a petition under Section 528 of the BNSS that highlighted the issues the general public was facing due to the ongoing strike by the doctors and allied staff of medical therapeutics regarding the safety and protection of the doctors, especially the female doctors. The Court Commissioners also reported “melancholy at the hospital” due to the absence of critical staff, noting “severe hardships” faced by OPD and the need to postpone certain operations due to the strike.
The Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) has today ended their two-week strike at AIIMS in Delhi following Supreme Court assurances. The strike was sparked by the rape and murder of a fellow doctor in Kolkata. The RDA thanked the Supreme Court and emphasized their commitment to advocating for healthcare worker safety.