Women want equal opportunity: SC objects to West Bengal's 'no night duty' policy for women doctors
New Delhi, Sep 17: The Supreme Court on Tuesday objected to the West Bengal government's 'Rattierer Saathi' programme which stipulated that working hours of women should not exceed 12 hours at a time and prescribed avoiding night duty.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra expressed surprise that the state government has issued such a notification.
The top court said if men are working in more that 12-hour shift, women doctors are also entitled to do so.
"How can you say that women will not work in night shifts? Women will have objection if you stop them from working in the night," it said.
Women do not want concessions, but they want equal opportunity. "Why should we prevent a woman doctor from working in the night," it said.
The court ordered that the West Bengal government should immediately correct the notification.
"Your duty is to provide security, you cannot say that women (doctors) cannot work at night. Pilots, the army etc all work at night.
"This will prejudice their (doctors) careers. The hours of duty should be reasonable for all doctors," the bench said.
The apex court said it is the duty of the state government to provide security to the women doctors working in the night.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), said the Centre could provide security for women doctors if the state government was not willing to provide it.
Contending that it was only a temporary security measure, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the West Bengal government, submitted that the state would issue a notification to correct it.
To enhance the safety and security of women working in night shifts across government and private sectors, the West Bengal Health Department had issued a comprehensive set of measures and launched a flagship programme named 'Rattierer Saathi — Helpers of the Night'.
The new guidelines will be enforced in the medical colleges, hospitals and hostels where similar provisions are not already in place, the order said.
"Working hours of women should not exceed 12 hours at a time. Wherever possible, night duty may be avoided for women to the extent possible," it said.
The top court was hearing a suo motu case related to the rape and murder of a postgraduate medic at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
The medic's body with severe injury marks was found on August 9. A civic volunteer was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the case the following day.
On August 13, the Calcutta High Court ordered the transfer of the probe from the Kolkata Police to the CBI, which started its investigation on August 14.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
