Reasonable working hours, adequate rest time each day for PG resident doctors: Health Ministry cites NMC regulations in Parliament
New Delhi: Postgraduate resident doctors should work for 'reasonable working hours' with 'adequate rest time each day', the Union Minister of State for Health, Smt Anupriya Patel, reiterated before the Rajya Sabha while referring to the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
The clarification was issued by the Minister in response to the queries raised by Parliament member Dr. Ajeet Madhavrao Gopchade, who sought to know whether the Government has assessed the absence of a uniform and enforceable national framework regulating maximum daily and weekly working hours of doctors in Government and private hospitals and its impact on patient safety and quality care.
He also asked whether international best practices adopted in the USA, UK, Japan and Hong Kong and the working-hour circulars issued by the State Government of Kerala, have been examined in this context; and whether Government proposes to formulate national guidelines, in consultation with State Governments and medical bodies, to regulate doctors’ working hours and strengthen ethical medical practices, including control of unethical medical advertising.
In response, the Minister stated that NMC, established under the NMC Act, 2019, is the apex regulatory body for medical education, the medical profession, and medical institutions, and it frames policies and regulations and issues clarifications/directives thereon from time to time for compliance.
"As per the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER-23) issued by the NMC, all postgraduate students shall work as full-time resident doctors with reasonable working hours and adequate rest time each day. Postgraduate students are entitled to 20 days of casual leave, 5 days of academic paid leave per year, and one day off per week. Further, female postgraduate students are entitled to maternity leave and male postgraduate students are entitled to paternity leave in accordance with the applicable Government rules and regulations," stated the Minister.
She further added that, "As regards ethical medical practices, including the control of unethical advertising, the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 regulate the professional conduct and medical ethics of Registered Medical Practitioners (RMPs)."
Duty hours matter in Supreme Court:
A plea is pending before the Supreme Court seeking the implementation of the 1992 Uniform Residency Scheme. Medical Dialogues reported last year that the doctors under the United Doctors' Front (UDF) had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court against the "inhumane working hours of resident doctors". The association has challenged the "exploitative and unconstitutional working conditions imposed on resident doctors across the country".
The plea, filed through Advocates Mr. Satyam Singh, and Ms. Neema AOR, sought urgent intervention from the Apex Court to enforce compliance with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's 1992 directive notification, which mandates that resident doctors should not work more than 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week.
The PIL highlighted that despite clear directives from the Supreme Court over three decades ago, medical institutions continue to violate prescribed standards. The petition cites the National Task Force report on Mental Health and Well-being of Medical Students, which documented over 150 suicides of medical students within five years, primarily due to work-related stress and sleep deprivation.
