30-day stretches, no weekly off: PGI Chandigarh resident doctors allege duty hour norms exist only on paper
Chandigarh: Despite its earlier directive to optimise the duty hours of resident doctors and ensure that they have at least one weekly off, the resident doctors at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh, have alleged that the reality of their working conditions has not changed much.
It has been alleged that the doctors are still working for 30 days at a stretch, without any weekly off, and during their duties in the emergency ward, the duty hours often stretch longer than 12 hours, depending on the severity of the cases.
In September 2025, PGI Director Dr Vivek Lal had issued a circular to all departmental heads and asked them to optimise the duty hours of resident doctors. The HoDs were also directed to ensure that the residents get at least one weekly off. These directions were issued to make sure that the resident doctors did not face any undue mental or physical stress. Even after four months of such directions being issued, no steps have been taken for their implementation, according to doctors.
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As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, explaining how the long working hours often take a toll on the patient care and the personal life of doctors, a senior resident from the department of paediatric surgery said, "We often work 30 days at a stretch and don’t get weekly offs. To get even a single day off, we have to apply for leave in advance. These working conditions do impact our efficiency and personal life, but we soldier on, thinking that this is our training stage."
Due to such a heavy workload, the doctors barely get any time to raise the issue or even think about it, confessed another resident from the haematology department.
A junior resident from the internal medicine department, who was assigned duty in the emergency department, told HT, "Since internal medicine does not have a separate ward, we are assigned duties in other departments’ wards. As per my experience, wards such as gastroenterology are the most hectic, and they are reluctant to give even one off a month."
"It is tough… balancing duty, academics and personal life. What ends up happening is that we cut short our sleep duration and turn to ready-made food to save time," added the resident doctor.
Reportedly, the resident doctors who are on duty in emergency or trauma centres of clinical, surgical and super specialty departments have to deal with an even heavier workload. They claimed that even though the working hours are limited to 12 hours on paper, they end up working longer depending on the severity of the cases.
Moreover, the doctors allegedly do not get any extra stipend for extra hours. Commenting on this, a junior resident at the trauma centre, who last received an off after 15 days, said, "Sometimes, we have to work overtime if there is more patient influx or if there is a critical case in the trauma, emergency, operation theatre etc. But the extra working hours are not recorded officially, so we don’t get extra stipend for the extra hours."
HT has reported that even the duty rosters from major departments, including the December 2025 roster of the internal medicine’s acute care emergency division and the January 2026 rosters of paediatrics and general surgery, did not show any designated weekly offs for junior residents.
Commenting on the issue, an additional professor of the general surgery department, Dr. Cherring Tandup, said that there is a provision of weekly offs for those in the emergency department. However, in wards, where the residents do not need to do such rigorous duty, there is a provision of flexible offs instead of fixed offs.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that as per the Central Residency Scheme of 1992, the duty hours of resident doctors is capped at 12 hours a day. Additionally, the scheme says that the residents are to be provided at least one weekly off.
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