New government doctors' pay delayed by 4 months; legal options possible

Hyderabad: It has been four months since their joining, but the recently recruited doctors working in various government medical colleges and teaching hospitals in the state are yet to get their salaries. The doctors are now considering legal options if their salaries are not paid by the first week of October.

Around May-end, over a thousand doctors were directly recruited as assistant professors in various government teaching hospitals and medical colleges in the cities and peripheral hospitals across Telangana.

The doctors were prepared for the initial two-month delay in payment due to paperwork and other formalities. However, after four months of waiting the doctors said that they are at the end of their patience, considering that they have families to support. Some are even the sole breadwinners in their families.

Dr M Nithya explained the issues surrounding the salaries in detail. She is a member of the Telangana Government Teaching Doctors’ Association (TGTDA) and was recently recruited as an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology at Government Medical College in Mancherial

“We were aware that there would be some delay when we first joined. The process includes sending our details to the DME office and approval from the Central Treasury about bill payments. Hence we quickly submitted all the required details through our respective medical colleges. The paperwork and procedures usually take about a couple of months. However, we came to know that our bills had been submitted to the finance department and the supplementary bills are stuck at the Central Treasury. We have given representations to our college principals and hospital superintendents, who have been following up with the health authorities regarding our salaries,” she said.

“We have been told that we will get the September salary in the first week of October and thereafter the arrears of other months will be cleared. Most of us have families or are single earners, working in peripheral hospitals, staying in rented accommodations, managing our daily expenses and need to send money back home. It is so difficult to wait any longer for our salaries. If we do not get it by the first week of October, then most likely, we won’t get it till next year,” added Dr Nithya.

Some newly recruited doctors are considering approaching the labour court for the non-payment of their salaries.

A newly recruited doctor from a peripheral hospital, who did not wish to be named, said, “Both salary and security are an issue for government doctors. Though the government is trying to provide security and police postings at various government hospitals, security is still not adequate as the health sector is rapidly expanding. Doctors often get manhandled and beaten up and even end up grievously injured by relatives of patients. All these issues need to be looked into and sorted out.”