140 Years On, Resident Doctors Still Cry for 8-Hour Workday—UDF Moves Supreme Court, Urges Health Ministry to Act
Shimla/New Delhi, May 1:
As the world marks Labour Day to commemorate the historic Chicago workers’ struggle for an 8-hour workday, India’s resident doctors find themselves still trapped in a system that denies them this basic right—even in 2025.
On the other hand, senior faculty members at IGMC Shimla and other medical colleges are of the view that Doctors can not be on an 8 hrs duty.
They are not clerks. "Suppose if you are operating and ur duty over by 8 hrs. Will you leave that surgery? Questioned Dr Manoj Thakur professor of Orthopedic Surgery at IGMC Shimla while reacting to demands raised by UDF.
"If You hand it over to another surgeon,who will be responsible for the medicolegal purpose in this era of so many constraints"?
There are so many other issues. It would be wrong treat doctors with bade or chhote babus in the bureaucracy, they opined.
However the United Doctors Front (UDF), led by its president Dr. Lakshya Mittal, has now knocked on the doors of the Supreme Court, demanding enforcement of the 8-hour or reasonable work limit for residents.
The petition also serves as a loud wake-up call to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
While most workers celebrate Labour Day as a hard-won victory, resident doctors across India continue to work marathon 36-hour shifts, often crossing 100 hours a week—completely disregarding norms that cap work at 48 hours weekly, UDF says.
The irony is striking: those who treat patients are themselves becoming patients of burnout, sleep deprivation, and mental distress.
“Enough is enough,” said Dr. Mittal. “We’re not asking for luxury—we’re demanding what labourers fought for in 1886: 8 hours for work, 8 hours for rest, 8 hours for life.
Today, doctors are running ICUs and emergencies without sleep, without meals, and without basic dignity.”
The UDF’s petition comes amid growing frustration among junior doctors who say the Health Ministry’s silence amounts to complicity.
Despite clear guidelines by the National Medical Commission and labour laws applicable under various state medical services, implementation remains a dead letter.
UDF’s Major Demands:
Enforce the 8-hour workday rule for all resident doctors as per existing labour and medical council norms.
Ensure adequate rest periods, rotational shifts, and functional grievance redressal mechanisms.
Introduce safeguards to protect the physical and mental health of resident doctors.
This May Day, the UDF has taken the battle for humane work conditions out of the hospital corridors and into the legal arena—and into the public conscience.
“We are not machines. We are humans first, doctors second,” said a resident doctor from Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
As doctors continue to toil in overburdened wards and crowded OPDs, the onus now falls on the Ministry of Health to respond—not just with words, but with urgent policy action.
The question is: will the government finally honour the spirit of Labour Day and relaxing norms of dutiesto reasonable hours, or let this generation of doctors burn out in silence?
#8HourWorkdayNow #DoctorsDeserveRest #HealthMinistryWakeUp #LabourDay2025
