Maha Senior Resident Doctors flag stipend delays, DA non-implementation in Medical Colleges

Among the issues raised in its submissions were delays in stipend payments, failure to implement the revised Dearness Allowance, lack of a standardised leave policy, and recurring technical glitches in biometric attendance systems. The representation was addressed to the Commissioner of DMER, Government of Maharashtra, urging attention to these pressing matters.

Despite a government resolution revising DA from 466% to 474% under the 5th Pay Commission, many institutions continue to pay stipends without incorporating the revised DA component, resulting in financial discrepancies. MSRDA has demanded timely stipend payment, uniform implementation of the revised stipend across all colleges, and immediate clearance of pending arrears.

Following this revision, the approved stipend for Senior Resident Doctors has been revised to approximately Rs 99,000 per month. However, several Government Medical Colleges across the state continue to disburse lower stipend amounts without incorporating the revised DA component. “This inconsistency is unfair and unacceptable,” the association added.

The association demanded disbursement of stipend every month for all Senior Resident Doctors across Maharashtra, uniform implementation of the revised stipend, including DA across all Government Medical Colleges and immediate payment of arrears for the past 12 months in colleges where the DA component has not been included.

The association has also highlighted the lack of a defined leave policy for Senior Resident Doctors and has requested implementation of a minimum provision of 12 Casual Leaves and 20 Special Leaves annually, in line with welfare principles and NMC guidelines. At present, there are no clear guidelines regarding Casual Leave or Special Leave, resulting in arbitrary decisions by individual institutions and departments. “If a humane leave structure is not implemented, we will be constrained to approach the National Human Rights Commission of India to safeguard the fundamental rights and well-being of resident doctors,” MSRDA stated.

Additionally, MSRDA has raised serious concerns about technical failures in biometric attendance systems, where doctors are being penalized despite genuine attendance and departmental certification by Heads of Departments. Despite multiple genuine attempts to mark attendance, the system frequently fails to register entries due to technical glitches, server issues, or Aadhaar linkage failures. Instead of addressing these systemic flaws, the current approach unfairly penalizes doctors who are already performing their duties diligently.

MSRDA has urged DMER to issue clear statewide directives to resolve these issues urgently, emphasizing that senior resident doctors form the backbone of tertiary healthcare services in Maharashtra and deserve fair working conditions and administrative support.