With 3 months of stipends pending, Telangana PG medicos want new govt to intervene

Hyderabad: The members of the Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (T-JUDA) have raised their concerns over the non-disbursement of their stipends for the last three months since September 2023.

The T-JUDA members pointed out that despite their representatives approaching the Director of Medical Education (DME) and subsequently escalating the matter to the health secretary and also giving a representation to the finance secretary on December 4 2023, there has been no visible response or progress. The doctors are planning to meet the ministers of the new government and give a representation about the regularisation of stipends.

Dr P Kaushik Kumar, president of T-JUDA said, “Our stipends from September have not been credited and junior doctors have been working tirelessly without any financial assistance. Many of the doctors are sole earners in their families. It is sad to see how the authorities concerned do not care about this issue even after repeated representation.”

According to Dr Kaushik, there are over 12,000 junior doctors (house surgeons, senior residents and first, second and third-year PG medicos) in the government medical colleges in the state. The monthly stipend of PG doctors ranges from Rs 58,289 to Rs 64,767 while the monthly stipend of house surgeons is Rs 25,906.

Elections blamed for delay in stipend

Addressing their ongoing concern related to the timely distribution of stipends for postgraduate students, in an official statement issued by T-JUDA, the doctors said, “Previously, stipends were provided when we decided to participate in a strike and communicated our intentions through a formal letter. Despite the expectation that this action would establish a regular stipend distribution process, we have yet to experience any disbursement. When we inquired about the delay, we were informed that it was due to the ongoing elections. However, it is essential to clarify that stipend disbursement is not connected to the electoral processes, and unfortunately, no stipends have been issued even after the elections concluded.”

Efforts to seek a resolution to this issue by speaking to the top health authorities have not yielded any positive results.

“The need to repeatedly pursue a standard stipend disbursement process is both challenging and counterproductive. We strongly assert that, stipend disbursement should be an automated and routine process, eliminating the need for continuous enquiries,” pointed out the general secretary of T-Juda Dr RK Akhil Kumar.

“We request immediate attention to ensure the timely and regular disbursement of stipends, allowing junior doctors to focus on their responsibilities without the burden of repeatedly pursuing their rightful entitlement,” mentioned T-JUDA in the statement.

A history of delaying stipends

Not receiving regular and timely stipends has always been an issue plaguing the junior doctors irrespective of the government in power. Till the doctors threaten to go on strike, the stipends are never disbursed. It remains to be seen if the newly-formed government can address this issue of the junior doctors and resolve it permanently.

“We do not want to go on a strike. We want to meet the representatives of the newly formed government and explain our issues. We want to wait for some more days for the government to respond before contemplating any further action,” added Dr Kaushik.