BJ Medical College Pune PG students allegedly face 24-36 duty hours, no weekly off- Complaint filed with SHRC

Pune: First-year postgraduate medical students at BJ Government Medical College, Pune, have allegedly been facing 24-36 hours at a stretch without a weekly off, according to a complaint submitted before the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission.

The complaint was filed by activist J Swamidas on July 13, alleging that although all departments have formally prepared duty rosters based on eight-hour shifts and a weekly off, the system is allegedly not being implemented on the ground, except in the radio diagnosis department.

He further alleged that PG medical students are forced to stay in the hostel located inside the hospital campus throughout the year, and this, according to him, stresses PG students in "unbearable mental agony" as they do not get sufficient time for personal work.

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"Such gruelling duty hours may corner PG students to take extreme decisions like suicide or quitting. In a period we witness rising number of suicides and quitting of PG medical students, we can’t take such cruel duty hours lightly as it would directly impact the patient’s care of poor patients of our Nation," he said in the complaint.

The complainant further stated that the restriction on students staying within the hospital campus has no connection with patient care and amounts to a serious violation of Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and liberty. He also alleged that it violates Article 42, which provides for just and humane conditions of work.

"As India is a signatory of universal declaration of human rights such illegitimate confinement is a violation of Article 23 of universal declaration of human right 1948 that guarantees right of everyone to ‘just and favourable conditions of work and article 24 of universal declaration of human rights upholds the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay," he added in the complaint. 

The 1992 Residency Scheme refers to the Government of India’s Central Residency Scheme, issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on June 5, 1992, following directions from the Supreme Court. It specifies that continuous active duty should normally not exceed 12 hours at a time and that junior residents should ordinarily work around 48 hours a week and should be given one weekly holiday by rotation. 

The activist further alleged that the Head of Department (HoD) was not adequately monitoring the implementation of duty-hour guidelines or taking sufficient steps to address alleged bullying and excessive working hours imposed by senior students.

Sharing the complaint details in a post on X, Swamidas said he had earlier received complaints from some first-year PG medical students of BJGMC and subsequently filed three complaints through the Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS) before relevant authorities. He also approached the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), but said the complaints were still under process.

He has now submitted a complaint to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), Maharashtra, as well as the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission, seeking intervention in the matter.

He also raised concerns about the financial burden faced by PG medical students who may consider leaving their seats. He said that he was informed that the seat-leaving penalty is around Rs 30 lakh, which could make it difficult for students to leave their courses even in stressful circumstances.

Also read- Long, multiple 24-hour duties leading cause of mental health issues among PG medicos: NMC tells Supreme Court