GMC Nagpur yet to follow 48-hour duty cap, doctors allege non-compliance
Nagpur: The Government Medical College, Nagpur, is allegedly yet to implement the State Government's directive for 48 hours of duty per week, as mandated under the 1992 Uniform Residency Scheme, despite been almost a month since the state Government issued a directive in this regard.
The issue has recently been highlighted by the United Doctors Front (UDF), which pointed out that even though Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur, promptly complied with the Government directive, GMC Nagpur has not implemented it yet.
Referring to the issue, UDF has asked why the State Government must issue institute-specific directives to every medical college to enforce a three-decade-old national scheme?
"While Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur promptly issued a notice on 30 March 2026 (Ref: IGGMC/346/2026) enforcing the Maharashtra Government directive — capping resident doctors at 12 hours/day & 48 hours/week per the 1992 Uniform Central Residency Scheme — Government Medical College (GMC) Nagpur is yet to issue or implement any such order. One is compelled to ask: why must the State Government issue institution-specific directives to every medical college, hospital and department to enforce a three-decade-old national scheme? Health being a State subject, the NMC has itself clarified that implementation rests on both state governments and institutions — yet the absence of continuous, centralized monitoring allows selective compliance to persist. Resident doctors must now take a firm stand. Confront authorities with the official IGGMC notice and 1992 guidelines, maintain proper duty records, and publicly document every violation on social media. Transparency and collective vigilance are the only effective safeguards when institutional regulation is lacking. Rule of law cannot remain selective," UDF mentioned in an X post.
Maharashtra is the first state to assign duty hours to resident doctors as per the 1992 Uniform Residency Scheme. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare implemented the Residency Scheme on June 5, 1992, following directions from the Supreme Court, which clearly limits resident doctors’ duty hours to a maximum of 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the State Government directed all medical colleges across Maharashtra directed all medical colleges to follow the Centre's 1992 Residency Scheme.
As per the notice, issued under directives from the Hon’ble Secretary, resident doctors’ duty hours must not exceed 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week under any circumstances. It further stated that Junior Resident-1 doctors should not be assigned emergency duties during the first six months of their tenure.
Additionally, all Heads of Clinical Departments have been asked to prepare and submit their departmental Junior Residents’ duty rosters/modules by April 2, 2026, for review and approval in line with these guidelines.
The notice also directed strict compliance with the instructions with immediate effect, warning that any deviation would be viewed seriously. After Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, issued directions in this regard to all medical colleges to limit duty hours to a maximum of 48 hours per week, Indira Gandhi Government Medical College, Nagpur, directed all Heads of Clinical Departments to strictly regulate the duty hours of resident doctors.
However, GMC Nagpur has not implemented this directive yet. In an X post, Dr. Rishu Sinha, a health activist who has been raising her voice against toxic work culture and strenuous duty hours assigned to resident doctors, shared a message that claimed that the PG medical students at GMC Nagpur are being compelled to work 36 hours non-stop, double duty a week. Sometimes, the duration of the duty even stretches to 48 hours, and the resident doctors have to work without food or sleep.
"Shocking! GMC Nagpur is not following the order of Maharashtra govt regarding 48 hours a week duty. How can an institution established under law allowed to continue such illegal practice?" Dr. Sinha mentioned in the X post.
Speaking to Medical Dialogues, Dr. Sinha said, "Even though the State Government has issued directive, they are not following the 1992 rule and it is still on paper."
NMC's Stand:
UDF has already filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking direction to all government and private medical colleges/institutions in India to implement 48-hour residency duty hours, as prescribed in the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare's Directive dated 05 June 1992.
Responding to the plea, the counsel for NMC submitted "every institution faces diverse local constraints or realitiesincluding patient load, human resource constraints, and specialty-specific requirements and therefore, rather than imposing a rigid numerical limit that may compromise patient care and training, NMC deliberately intended to use the terms 'reasonable working hours' and 'reasonable time for rest' in its regulations."
This is why NMC has consciously incorporated the term 'reasonable working hours' and 'reasonable time for rest' in the PGMER, 2023, thereby allowing the college authorities/institutions, being the final implementation authorities; to adapt their schedules to local realities while still maintaining a humane working conditions in institutions for medical students and resident doctors, submitted the Commission.
Recommendations by Parliamentary Panel:
Recently, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare, headed by MP Prof. Ram Gopal Yadav, submitted its 172nd report on 18.03.2026. Taking note of the huge vacancies in the posts of faculty members and residents at the central government medical institutes, the Parliamentary Health Committee expressed concern about the excessive workload of doctors.
In the report, the panel highlighted the possibility of clinical errors and burnout resulting in compromised patient safety and recommended formulated and strictly enforcing a "Clinical Duty Hours Regulation" policy with mandatory rest periods and monitored rosters. Following this, UDF Chairperson Dr. Mittal wrote to the Union Health Minister, Shri J P Nadda, seeking urgent implementation of the same.
