Summary:
Chennai, Sep 4 (PTI) The Madras High Court on Friday directed the authorities concerned not to engage post-graduate medical students and the students undergoing compulsory rotatory residential internship (CRRI) in medical colleges beyond eight hours of duty.
The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesdavalu gave a direction to this effect, while disposing of a public interest writ petition from Dr G R Ravindranath, general secretary of the Doctors Association for Social Equality.
The petitioner sought the strict implementation of a July 2015 notification of the Directorate of Medical Education to provide eight hours duty per day on shift basis to PG medical students and under-graduate CRRI candidates at State-run hospitals and medical colleges.
It was true that the doctors were engaged beyond eight hours duty due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But this practice is no longer prevalent since February this year and there has been no violation.
Moreover, committees have been constituted to check this and any individual can make use of this in case of the person being subjected to more work, Government Pleader P Muthukumar told the bench.