Bihar: PG medicos demand adjustment of waiting period, urges government to notify posting

Patna: Postgraduate doctors demand for the adjustment of their nine-month waiting period after the scheduled completion of their course in May last year against the mandatory three-year post-PG bond period in which they have to serve at government health facilities following an already placed delay due to COVID-19.

There are around 450 junior doctors after passing their postgraduate examination from state run medical colleges, who have come forward with the demand, reports the Hindustan Times. 

The Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU) declared the PG results on December 22 last year, following which the doctors are waiting for posting and the state department is yet to notify it.

Dr. Harendra Kumar, a former president of the Junior Doctors' Association (JDA), Bihar, and also one of the 450 doctors now waiting for posting said, "On Thursday, we requested Bihar's additional chief secretary, health, Pratyaya Amrit to adjust our waiting period against the duration of our post-PG bond. He told us that the department was in the process of notifying the posting of doctors."

The 36 month PG curriculum, which was originally scheduled to end in May last year as per the academic calendar, was extended to three moths by the government due to the COVID pandemic. 

Speaking to the HT, Dr. Kumar said, "After our PG tenure ended in August, late by three months, the AKU then delayed conducting our final examination. It initially deferred our examination for almost a month to October 6 and then took two-and-a-half months to declare the results. We are now waiting for the state government to post us in different districts on merit-cum-choice basis so that we can complete our post-PG bond."

He stated, "We medicos are not responsible for the delay either in completion of curriculum, convening of examination, declaring results or posting of doctors. So, why should we be penalised for the delay? As such, we are requesting the government to adjust this waiting period against the duration of our three-year bond".

A government official said, "The state health department is in the process of notifying the posting of such doctors. It is likely to be issued next week."

The post graduate doctors are posted as senior residents in medical colleges or as specialist medical officers in government health facilities. Last year, the health department had posted all such PG doctors as senior residents in medical colleges on merit-cum-choice basis during the period when first such batch of medicos who had to serve the three-year post-PG bond passed out.

The present batch is the second one after the government introduced the three-year post-PG bond in 2017. However, the PG doctors are also not receiving the monthly salary from the government and the PG stipend. Speaking about the salary issue, Dr. Kumar said, "Our monthly PG stipend has stopped after completion of tenure and we are not getting salary from the government during this intervening period when we wait for our posting. It's a double loss for us, both financially and professionally because we cannot even practice anywhere else as all our educational testimonials are with the medical college. We will get them back only after we complete the mandatory three-year post-PG bond. So, unless the government notifies our posting, our career will not move ahead."

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