Supreme Court slams Bengal govt for exceeding night shift limit

Calcutta doctor rapes and murders: The Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up the West Bengal government over new rules that said women doctors should not be employed in night shifts or shifts exceeding 12 hours. Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said women do not need concessions, they want safety and equal opportunities.

While the high court was hearing the case of advocates representing senior and junior doctors from Bengal, it was informed about a rule issued by the state that states that women doctors are not allowed to work at night.

Justice Chandrachud expressed outrage at this rule and asked, “How is this possible?”

“Women do not want concessions but equal opportunities… women doctors are ready to work in any conditions. They have to work in any conditions… the state of West Bengal has to rectify this. You cannot say that women doctors cannot work more than 12 hours and not at night… armed forces etc. all work at night and that includes women,” CJI Chandrachud said.

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‘Sanjoy Roy was also one such employee’: SC questions ‘Raatirer Shaathi’ programme

The top court also agreed with the contentions of senior and junior resident doctors against the Raatirer Shaathi scheme of the West Bengal government. The top court expressed reservation over the decision of the West Bengal government to train and deploy contractual workers under the Raatirer Shaathi scheme to ensure security and said the prime accused in the RG Kar Sanjoy Roy rape and murder case was also one such worker.

“As far as Raatirer Shaathi scheme is concerned, if again we have contractual workers who are trained for work etc… let’s face it… Sanjoy Roy was also one such worker… who will take the responsibility of protecting women doctors from them?… They don’t know who these people are… they are not police,” the CJI asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal.

‘Progress is very slow’: SC tells Bengal govt on measures to improve safety in hospitals

The top court today asked the West Bengal government to submit steps taken to ensure the safety of doctors.

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The West Bengal government filed an affidavit in the high court on behalf of the state health department, detailing the steps taken to improve the staff rooms, bathrooms, toilets, availability of CCTV cameras in government medical colleges and hospitals across the state. The court noted that the affidavit indicated that the West Bengal government had given approval for setting up additional security infrastructure in government hospitals.

After reviewing the state government’s submissions, the top court questioned the efficacy of the Raatirer Shaathi scheme and said hiring contract workers was not a good idea as the prime accused in the RG Kar case was a citizen volunteer. The doctors did not know who they were.

Senior advocate Sibal, however, submitted that the CISF and police are on the spot and Raatirer Shathi is just an accessory.

“The problem is that when you assign security of doctors to contract staff, they will roam around the hospital,” the CJI said. Sibal said there is a police station in every hospital. The CJI, however, replied that “even then RG Kar happened!”

At this point, Kapil Sibal said that the Bengal government will dissolve Raatirer Shathi if the court wants it. However, CJI Chandrachud said that the court is not responsible for administration and it is not about what we want.

Sibal then approached the court asking it to take trust in the West Bengal government and take notice of all this.

At this juncture, the CJI said the state must understand that the girls who are joining the 45 medical colleges in the state have just completed their 12th class and are very young

“You need to have police force in these 45 colleges. In RG Kar also, progress is very slow. You have approved 415 additional CCTV cameras, but have installed only 36!” the CJI said.

However, Sibal, representing West Bengal, said the project would be completed within seven to 14 days.

In issuing its ruling today, the court found that the concerns expressed by junior and senior doctors regarding the restriction of women working night shifts and the Raatirer Shaathi programme were justified.

“The basic aim must be to ensure safety and security for all and women doctors do not need special licenses but security and security to be able to work and therefore such conditions would be a hindrance in their medical career. Moreover, it would be improper if women were given licenses for duty hours and they must be reasonable hours for all doctors. West Bengal has therefore assured that any such conditions which undermine the basic tenet of gender equality will not be implemented.”