Stipend Retracted after being Credited to Resident Doctors: Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College Medicos on Strike
Kalaburgi: The resident doctors at Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College (MRMC) have been protesting since Tuesday against the alleged ongoing stipend issue at the institute.
Allegedly, even though the college management is paying stipend to the resident doctors, most of the amount is being retracted by the authorities using some signed cheques which are taken from the postgraduate medical students beforehand.
Submitting a memorandum to the college authorities on Thursday, the PG students of MRMC listed their demands including- immediate release of the pending stipend for 3 months, release of the previously withdrawn amount, assurance of paying full stipend henceforth. The students also demanded assurance from the authorities that no additional money will be taken or any other conditions shall be applied while giving hall tickets, degree etc.
Further, the students had also warned the authorities that if their demands are not immediately met they would register an FIR against the management, Dean, and branch manager of the concerned Bank. They also warned that they send details and necessary documents to the National Medical Commission (NMC), RGUHS, PMO, and other authorities.
Sources at the medical college informed Medical Dialogues, on the condition of anonymity, that on Friday, the college management agreed to fulfill some of the demands of the residents including payment of full stipend henceforth, crediting pending stipend amount etc. The college authorities also assured to conduct internal enquiry regarding any previously withdrawn stipend amount.
However, the PG medicos are insisting on another one of the demands that the college will not put any unnecessary extra financial charges on the students other than the fee prescribed by the Karnataka Examinations Authority. Further, the resident doctors have also demanded a clarification in writing with an assurance that the authorities will return to them the withdrawn amount of the stipend. Therefore, considering the response from the management as "half-positive", the resident doctors have decided to continue with their strike.
It has been alleged that the college management directed them to open separate bank accounts in a specific bank. They are also being forced to give signed cheque books to the authorities. The college management is paying Rs 45,000 to the first year PG medicos, Rs 50,000 to the second year PG medical students and Rs 55,000 per month to those who are in their third years.
However, after crediting the stipend amount in their account, the money is allegedly being systematically withdrawn from the signed cheques and the doctors are being allowed to keep only a fraction of it.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the alleged stipend scam at the medical college was recently raised by a Right to Information (RTI) activist Sharanabasappa Ambesinghe.
Alleging that postgraduate medical students are not being paid a full stipend by Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, run by Hyderabad Karnataka Education Society (HKES), for the last several years, the RTI activist had demanded police intervention in the matter.
He demanded that the Kalaburagi Police should take cognisance of the issue, register a case against the college authorities and conduct an investigation into the alleged irregularities.
Taking up the issue, Mr. Ambesinghe recently addressed a press conference in Kalaburagi and produced a memorandum written by the PG medical students to the president of HKES, the trust running the medical college, with a demand for regular payment of stipend.
He alleged that every month, the college has shown to credit Rs 45,000 stipend for each of the first-year students. However, later Rs 37,000 is withdrawn from their account.
Similarly, Rs 40,000 gets allegedly withdrawn from the account of second-year students who get Rs 50,000 as stipend. In case of the third-years, after paying Rs 55,000 as stipend, the college debits Rs 43,000 from each of their accounts.
During the Press Conference, Mr. Ambesinghe further alleged that a complaint in this regard was made against the college highlighting the irregularities in the payment of stipend for the PG students on February 8. However, police failed to register the case yet.
Now the resident doctors at the medical college have initiated a strike against the college management in this regard. Raising the issue, Dr. Meet Gohnia, a committee member of IMA JDN wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Protests ongoing in Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College, Kalaburagi by the PG Resident Doctors against the college management. They have been told to open bank accounts by college and are forced to give signed chequebooks. Stipend of Rs 45000,50000, 55000 per month is credited for first, second and third year and systematically withdrawn after keeping only a fraction of it from the signed cheques which are taken from the students beforehand."
"Postgraduate residents at Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College Kalaburagi protest against college management's financial exploitation! Forced to open bank accounts, surrender signed chequebooks,and only receive a fraction of their stipend," wrote Dr. Vivek Pandey, an RTI activist.
Stipend Disparity and NMC Action:
Medical Dialogues had last year reported about the glaring disparities in the amount of stipend paid to the Undergraduate and Postgraduate medical students across the country.
As per the data regarding the students admitted through the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination 2022, which is available on the official website of the Commission, there were glaring disparities in the stipend paid to the Junior Resident doctors across the institutes in a state and also across the country.
The data revealed that the minimum amount of stipend (Rs 20,000 or less than Rs 20,000 per month) is paid to the resident doctors pursuing their postgraduate medical education in medical colleges located in States like Karnataka, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile recently releasing the final Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER 2023), which were published in the official Gazette on 29.12.2023, the National Medical Commission (NMC) introduced uniformity in the amount of stipend paid to the PG medicos in a particular State/UT.
The Commission specified that the PG medicos who are pursuing degree, diploma or super-speciality courses should be paid a stipend at par with the stipend being paid to the PG students of Government institutes, in that particular State/UT.
Also Read: Uniform Stipend for all PG Medicos in a particular State, UT: NMC
