1. Petitioner, a Head Nurse working in the Taluk Head Quarters Hospital, Thirroorangadi in the Health Services Department of the State has approached this Court with the grievance that she is required to do continuous duty for 14 hours at a stretch for 6 days consecutively.

2. A few facts may be noticed. The strength of the nursing staff in Govt. Taluk Head Quarters Hospital, Thirrorangadi is 44, out of which 36 Nurses are Staff Nurses and 8 are Head Nurses. 4 Staff Nurses are working in other hospitals on working agreements. Similarly 2 Head Nurses are working in other hospitals. The strength of the Nursing Staff in the above hospital is thus reduced to 30. Government have introduced shift system in some of the Government Hospitals. Since shift system is not introduced in the Govt. Taluk Head Quarters Hospital, Thirroorangadi, members of the Nursing Staff are compelled to work for 14 hours a day at a stretch. Petitioner is working 14 hours a day and she is allowed to avail only one day off in a week. She has averred in the O.P. that 'the work of nursing, especially in Government Hospitals, is arduous in nature' and therefore long hours of continuous duty is too harsh and inhuman to stand the test of law and justice. She has prayed in this O.P. for a direction commanding the respondents to introduce 3 shift duty system in Government Hospital, Thirroorangadi, and for a declaration that forcing the petitioner to be on duty continuously for 14 hours a day for 6 days in a week is illegal and unconstitutional.

3. Nurses working in the Government Hospitals of the State have approached this Court on prior occasions also with the above grievance. A Writ Petition (O.P. No. 6842 of 1990) was filed by four Nurses working in the Women and Children Hospital, Mattancherry, and another Nurse working in the Maharaja's Hospital, Palluruthy, for the redressal of a similar grievance. Having regard to the importance of the issue and the impact it may have throughout the State of Kerala in the Health Services, K.T. Thomas, J. (as His Lordship then was), referred the question for decision by a Division Bench of this Court. Before the Division Bench, it was submitted on behalf of the Government that the question to limiting the duty time of the Nursing Staff within 8 hours per day had been engaging the attention of the Government for some time past and after considering all the aspects Government have introduced "3 shift system" with the intention to limit duty time of nurses as 8 hours per day. A list of hospitals where the 3 shift system was introduced with effect from May 18, 1987 was also furnished by the respondents in that case. Those hospitals are:

1. Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

2. S.A.T. Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram.

3. Medical College Hospital, Kozhikode.

4. Institute of Maternal and Child Health, Kozhikode.

5. Beach Hospital, Kozhikode.

6. W. & C. Hospital, Kozhikode.

Three shift duty system was thereafter introduced in the Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, as well as in the Medical College Hospital, Alappuzha, with effect from June 28,1989. In that background the Division Bench disposed of O.P. No. 6842 of 1990 in the following manner:

"In this view of the situation, all that is left for us is to appreciate the approach of the State and sincerely desire to order God speed to this necessary and noble function. When the State Government has already done much in 1987 and 1989, the lull thereafter in the direction has to be pushed up because 1994 is far away from 1989 with a period of five years thereafter.

This petition is pending in this Court from 1990 with this counter having been filed on July 27,1992. Normally the State Government should have come before us with an order of compliance, be that as it may in the above situation, we allow this petition and direct the respondents 1 to 3 to take all necessary and required steps to implement the three shift system already made applicable to the medical hospitals referred