The ‘Rattierer Saathi’ program of the West Bengal government, which limited women’s working hours and discouraged them from doing night jobs, was criticized by the Supreme Court of India on Tuesday. The program advised women to stay away from night shifts and prohibited them from working for longer than 12 hours at a time. A bench that included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, as well as Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, voiced surprise and dissatisfaction of this directive.
The court emphasized that, particularly in fields like medicine, women ought to have the same rights to work under the same conditions as men. They emphasized that prohibiting night work will impede women’s advancement in the workforce and equal opportunities. The bench stressed that women want equality in opportunity, including the ability to work night shifts, rather than preferential treatment. It was made clear that a restriction of this kind would harm women physicians, hindering their ability to carry out their duties in an emergency and impeding their advancement in the field.
The West Bengal government was directed by the court to swiftly correct the notification, emphasizing that the state should be held accountable for ensuring women who work night shifts have security instead of imposing restrictions on their working hours. The bench emphasized that women’s safety and security should be guaranteed regardless of their working hours and likened this circumstance to other professions where women are permitted to perform night shifts, such as pilots and military personnel.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)’s Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also stated that the federal government may step in and offer the assistance required if the state government was unable or unable to guarantee security for female doctors.
The West Bengal government’s senior attorney, Kapil Sibal, acknowledged that the state would issue a notification to rectify the current direction, referring to the action as temporary. The West Bengal Health Department created the ‘Rattierer Saathi’ program with the goal of improving the safety and security of women who work night shifts in both the public and private sectors. It established rules to make sure women avoided working nights if feasible and did not work more than 12 hours at a time.
This matter came up during the suo motu case hearing at RG Kar Medical College in Kolkata, which was about the rape and killing of a postgraduate medical student.
SOURCE :
ECONOMIC
