Doctors counter govt statement that they work for 40 hrs a week
New Delhi, Jan 6 : Doctors have countered a government statement that they work for a maximum of 40 hours a week, claiming that their work hours often add up to as much as 100 hours a week.
Minister of State for Health Ashwini Kumar Choubey recently informed the Lok Sabha that the working hours for doctors and other medical practitioners employed at three Centre-run hospitals -- Ram Manohar Lohia, Safdarjung and Lady Hardinge Medical College -- and the associated hospitals in Delhi normally did not exceed 40 hours a week.
Responding to a question, the minister, however, added that the duty timing and working hours of doctors and medical professionals were governed by the exigencies of their work and depended on whether they were on emergency duty.
Choubey's claim has drawn the ire of doctors, especially the resident doctors, who claimed that they put in more than double the hours, contrary to what Parliament has been informed.
The minister, in his reply, also stated that "there has been no reported case of negligence of duty or deterioration of quality of healthcare services on account of the extended working hours in these central government hospitals".
"As regards the standards of treatment, adequate residents/doctors are available in these Central government hospitals to provide optimum patient care. Further, whenever there is an increase in the workload, necessitating an increase in the number of doctors, new posts are created to ensure that the required manpower is available to deliver the desired level of clinical care and to ensure that there is no medical negligence," Choubey told the Lok Sabha on December 21.
A senior resident doctor at the AIIMS said the work hours for doctors at the Centre-run hospitals often added up to 100-120 hours a week due to a heavy rush of patients and a shortage of doctors.
"Also, the duty timings differ, based on the department in which one is working, as the doctors in Emergency, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine and Surgery departments have long work timings compared to the other departments," he said.
Another senior resident doctor at the hospital said lack of sleep and a lot of work led to stress among doctors, making them prone to depression.
"Our job is like a policeman and there are no fixed hours. We are always ready to do extra work during an emergency. But this has become a norm now and even patients face problems because of this.
"For example, in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department, if the duty of a resident doctor starts at 9 pm, he leaves only at 6 pm the next evening," he said.
According to another resident doctor at the Safdarjung hospital, this kind of a work environment also leads to instances of medical negligence.
"There is no proper infrastructure. There is a paucity of doctors and staff at the hospitals, due to which the resident doctors are overburdened.
"We try to take care of the health of the patients, but nobody is concerned about our mental and physical well-being. The government should look into the issue and regulate the working hours so as to ensure that the doctors provide quality care to the patients," he said.
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SC directs states, UTs to furnish updated details on prisons, including overcrowding
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court has directed all the states and Union territories to furnish updated details relating to jails, including the sanctioned capacity of each prison and steps taken to check overcrowding, by May 18.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta also asked the states and UTs to provide details about the number of women’s prisons within their jurisdictions and the facilities available in them, including the measures taken to ensure education and overall welfare of children living with the female inmates.
The bench noted that senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in a suo motu matter concerning inhuman conditions in jails, has drawn its attention to the fact that the statistics placed on record by the states and UTs pertain to 2023.
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The bench said that, having regard to the nature of issues involved and the necessity of an informed adjudicatory exercise, the availability of updated contemporaneous data was indispensable for the effective consideration of the proceedings.
“Accordingly, we deem it appropriate to direct all the states and Union territories to place on record updated and comprehensive statistics relating to all prisons situated within their respective jurisdictions,” the bench said in its order passed on March 17.
It said the data shall include jail-wise capacity of each prison, total number of prisoners, percentage of overcrowding in each jail, steps proposed to address overcrowding, details of women’s jails, facilities provided to women prisoners and children accompanying them (including educational and medical facilities), sanctioned strength of prison staff, existing vacancies, steps taken to fill them, along with all ancillary aspects relating to prison administration.
The bench directed the states and UTs to furnish complete particulars indicating the sanctioned capacity of each prison and the total number of prisoners lodged as on March 1, 2026, along with jail-wise details reflecting the extent of occupancy.
The apex court said the states and UTs would file comprehensive affidavits, duly sworn by the home secretary, providing the requisite details by May 18.
It said the top court registry would forward copies of the affidavits received from the states and UTs to the amicus, who would prepare a comprehensive note detailing the statistics and information provided by them.
It posted the matter for hearing on May 26.
