No increase in govt resident doctors' stipend for decade in Punjab
Karam Prakash
Patiala, May 15
The successive state governments have failed to revise the stipend of resident doctors for over a decade. This has resulted in stipend disparity among the government resident doctors in the state and their counterparts in the neighbouring states of the region.
Junior and senior residents in the state are getting a monthly stipend of Rs 50,000 and 62,000, respectively.
Barring Himachal Pradesh, the stipend of the Punjab resident doctors is the lowest in the region. Neighbouring states and Union Territories (UTs), including Haryana, New Delhi, Chandigarh and Rajasthan, are better placed when it comes to the monthly salary to the resident doctors.
Talking to The Tribune, members of the Union of Resident Doctors of Punjab (URDP) said: “Junior resident doctors in Haryana and Delhi are getting a stipend between Rs 80,000 and Rs 1 lakh.” Also, the stipend doesn’t even commensurate with the work they had been doing, the members added.
They further said the same AAP government in Delhi was paying around 1 lakh to resident doctors, but it had failed to hike the stipend in Punjab.
Meanwhile, URDP general secretary Dr Prabhsimran Singh Boparai said, “Despite the Health and Medical Education Minister being a doctor himself, he has failed to address the issue. Unfortunately, none of the 10 AAP MLAs — who are doctors by profession —- couldn’t do their bit for us.”
However, Health and Medical Education Minister Dr Vijay Singla could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.
AAP MLA from Patiala rural Dr Balbir Singh, who is an eye surgeon, said, “The issue has been already conveyed to the Medical Education Minister and it will be resolved at the earliest.”
