TS junior doctors accept a month’s delay in stipends, demand early payments

Hyderabad: Members of the Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (TJUDA) have agreed to accept a month’s delay in the payment of their stipends but demanded that they should be credited regularly between the fifth and tenth of each month

The TJUDA had earlier written to the director of medical education (DME) and to the minister of health and finance regarding the delayed disbursement of monthly stipends for junior resident doctors. With the DME accepting their proposals, the TJUDA is anticipating stipends to be credited on or before October 10.

Delay severely hurting finances

The delayed and irregular disbursement of stipends has caused significant financial uncertainty and hardships for many junior residents. Dr P Kaushik Kumar, the president of TJUDA said that the delays have not only disrupted the financial planning of junior residents but also impacted their overall morale and productivity.

“Therefore, we request you (DME) to consider implementing a more structured and efficient system for the disbursement of stipends. The TJUDA is ready and willing to collaborate with relevant authorities to devise a solution that can effectively regularise the stipend disbursement process. This step will not only alleviate the financial concerns of the junior residents but also contribute to a more conducive environment for medical professionals in training,” he said in the representation.

Excess red tape delaying payments

In the letter, the TJUDA mentioned that due to the several steps needed for the stipends to be credited, it gets delayed every month, even if there is a delay in just one of the steps or departments.

The first step involves the departments to send the attendance of the medicos to the principal’s office. Next, the principal will send the attendance to the DME office. In the third step, the DME office will send token numbers to the Pay and Account office. In the fourth step, the Pay and Account office will send token numbers to the Finance department. Finally, the Finance department clears those token numbers and credits the stipends.

The doctors asked for the August stipend to be credited between October 5 and 10, the September stipend to be cleared between November 5 and 10, and so on.