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More than thirty years later, the petitioner submits that the 1992 directives continue to remain largely on paper. Resident Doctors across the country are routinely subjected to inhumane working hours, sometimes extending up to 100 hours a week, without adequate rest, leave, or safeguards to protect their physical and mental health
A writ petition under Article 32 has been filed before the Supreme Court of India by the United Doctors Front (UDF), a registered body representing medical professionals across the country, seeking urgent judicial intervention to curb the exploitative and unregulated working conditions of resident doctors in government and private medical institutions nationwide.
The petition highlights the long-standing non-compliance with the binding directives issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 5, 1992, which capped the working hours of resident doctors at a maximum of 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
"Despite the unequivocal directives issued by this Hon’ble Court in Writ Petition (Civil) Nos. 348–352 of 1985, wherein all State Governments, Universities, and Medical Institutions were directed to implement a Uniform Central Residency Scheme by 1993, the regulatory framework concerning duty hours and rest periods remains grossly unimplemented. Pursuant to the above decision, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, vide its Notification No. S.11014/3/91-ME(D) dated 05.06.1992, laid down binding norms fixing the maximum duty hours for Resident Doctors at 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week, with corresponding entitlements to weekly holidays and annual leave. However, even after more than three decades, these directions remain largely on paper, with medical institutions routinely violating the prescribed standards with impunity," the plea reads.
More than thirty years later, the petitioner submits, these directives continue to remain largely on paper. Resident Doctors across the country are routinely subjected to inhumane working hours, sometimes extending up to 100 hours a week, without adequate rest, leave, or safeguards to protect their physical and mental health.
Filed through Advocate-on-Record (AoR) Neema and drafted by Advocate Satyam Singh, the plea argues that this sustained exploitation constitutes a grave violation of the fundamental right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It also invokes the Directive Principles of State Policy under Articles 41 and 47, which mandate the State to secure humane conditions of work and promote public health.
The UDF’s petition draws attention to the findings of the National Task Force on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students, submitted in June 2024, which documented over 150 suicides among medical students in just five years. These incidents were directly linked to excessive work hours, sleep deprivation, stress, and institutional neglect.
“The matter has crossed administrative lapses and entered into the realm of fundamental rights violations,” the petition asserts, adding that “continued apathy towards Resident Doctors not only endangers their well-being but also compromises the quality of patient care.”
While the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER-23) by the National Medical Commission refer vaguely to “reasonable working hours,” the petition highlights that they fail to prescribe enforceable thresholds or accountability mechanisms. The Office Memorandum dated September 6, 2020, issued by the AIIMS Registrar also reiterated the 1992 directive but has not translated into on-ground change.
The writ petition comes in the backdrop of scathing observations made by the Supreme Court in the RG Kar Medical College rape case, where the Court, on August 22, 2024, described the conditions under which Resident Doctors operate as “inhuman.” The bench had then observed that overburdened Resident Doctors working around the clock were a clear result of systemic and institutional failure.
"The recent remarks made by this Hon’ble Court in the RG Kar Medical College rape case on 22.08.2024, wherein the Court termed the working conditions of Resident Doctors as “inhuman”, only reinforce the systemic neglect and failure of the State to discharge its constitutional obligations under Articles 41 and 47 of the Constitution, which obligate the State to ensure humane conditions of work and public health," the PIL reads.
Prayer sought
The petitioner has sought following directions from the Court:
Case Title: United Doctors Front (UDF) Regd. v. Union of India & Ors.
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