Rs 50k to Rs 1 lakh plus: Himachal announces stipend hike for resident doctors, caps duty hours
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu recently declared a substantial hike in the monthly stipend for postgraduate resident doctors. From the next budget, PG residents will receive Rs 50,000, Rs 60,000 and Rs 65,000 in their first, second and third year respectively, while the stipend for senior residents has been raised to Rs 1 lakh, and Rs 1.3 lakh in super-specialty departments.
The Chief Minister also highlighted improvements in working conditions for resident doctors, noting that duty hours-earlier stretching up to 36-hour shifts-have now been capped at a maximum of 12 hours.
According to a recent PTI report, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday announced the introduction of an "incentive policy" for doctors and a hike in the monthly stipend of resident doctors.
Sukhu also said Rs 5 crore would be provided to five medical colleges for the development of infrastructure for bone marrow transplant.
He made a slew of announcements for hospitals and the health sector while presiding over the annual function at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla.
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The chief minister said in the next budget, the monthly stipend for PG resident doctors would be raised to Rs 50,000, Rs 60,000 and Rs 65,000 in the first, second and third year respectively, a statement said, reports PTI
He added that the stipend for senior residents has been increased from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month, while in super-specialty departments, it has been raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.3 lakh.
Sukhu said that working hours of resident doctors, which could be as high as 36-hour shifts before, have now been capped at a maximum of 12 hours.
The CM announced a sum of Rs five crore each for "bone marrow infrastructure development" in IGMC, AIMSS Chamiyana, Tanda Medical College, Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital, Mandi and Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College, Hamirpur.
The CM also announced a sum of Rs 5 for laparoscopic facilities and Rs 6 crore for the Department of Anaesthesia at IGMC.
He directed authorities to expedite the land transfer process required for the construction of a new student hostel at IGMC and also instructed the principal of IGMC to complete the process of shifting the Gynaecology wing from Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) to IGMC at the earliest.
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