AIIMS reiterates 12-hour shift limit, weekly off for resident doctors; UDF credits SC PIL

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi has issued a fresh statement reiterating the working hour rules for resident doctors at the institute. The statement comes in the wake of a PIL filed by the United Doctors Front (UDF) in Supreme Court against “inhumane” and “systematic exploitation” of junior and senior resident doctors.

The institute emphasized that continuous active duty for resident doctors will not normally exceed 12 hours per day, subject to the exigencies of work. The resident doctors will also be allowed one weekly holiday by rotation, the institute said.

“The resident doctor will also be required to be on call duty not exceeding 12 hours at a time.

As per the residency scheme implemented by the Government of India, the junior resident doctors should work for 48 hours per week and not more than 12 hours at a stretch, “subject to the condition that the working hours will be flexible, keeping in view the workload and availability of doctors for clinical work”.

“All Chiefs of Centers (CoCs) and Heads of Departments (HoDs) are hereby advised to follow the Guidelines of Government of India Residency scheme and maintain statistics of duty hours for the resident doctors. These statistics should be shared with the Academic Section as and when required,” the AIIMS Delhi notice read.

PIL in Supreme Court

The Supreme Court had recently agreed to take up the case against the violation of the residency scheme.

The ministry of health issued guidelines on June 5, 1992, which capped resident doctors’ duty hours at 12 hours per day and 48 hours per week. The National Medical Commission (NMC) has also reiterated these rules in the Post-graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER 2023)

In the petition, doctors argued that breaches in duty-hour rules violate resident doctors’ fundamental rights and the burnout will also compromise patient safety.

Also read 'Resident doctors are not robots': AIIMS Bhubaneswar, AFMC Pune violate duty-hour guidelines, RTI confirms

UDF welcomes AIIMS notice

Welcoming the statement from AIIMS, the UDF posted on X: “Big Achievement for Resident Doctors. As an outcome of @UDF_BHARAT’ PIL at the Supreme Court regarding maximum 48 hrs/week duty, AIIMS has now issued a notice (21 Aug 2025) applicable to all AIIMS.”

“Endorses 48 hrs/week cap, 1 mandatory weekly off, and maximum 12 hrs continuous duty,” the doctors said.

Further the doctors asked all residents to report any violations to HoD and Dean, and to approach NMC , health ministry, the media if ignored.

The Supreme Court will tentatively hear the matter on October 14, as per the SC official website.