Stipend revision for doctors, interns put on hold amid Jharkhand civic body election

Ranchi: The Jharkhand Health Department has forwarded a proposal to revise stipends for Senior Residents, postgraduate students, and interns in government medical colleges, following repeated demands raised by doctors.

According to the government, the revised rates have been put on hold for now because the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force due to the ongoing civic body elections.

However, the health department assured the doctors that their long-pending demands will be implemented after the election process concludes.

Also read- Jharkhand Govt doctors demand long-pending stipend hike

Joint Secretary of the Health Department Lalit Mohan Shukla gave this assurance to a delegation of the Jharkhand Junior Doctors Network (JDN) during his visit to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College and Hospital (MGMMCH), Jamshedpur, on Friday.

Speaking to Jharkhand Story, Shukla said, "The proposal for revised stipends has already been forwarded for approval. However, due to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct in view of the civic body elections, the government is unable to formally announce or implement the revised rates at this stage. The stipends would be revised once the election process concludes."

Medical Dialogues last year reported that a delegation representing five government medical colleges in Jharkhand, under the banner of the Junior Doctors Network (JDN) met Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Health Ajay Kumar Singh and Health Minister Dr Irfan Ansari to press for long-awaited revisions in stipends for senior residents, postgraduate students, and interns.

According to JDN State Secretary Dr Raghvendra Rathore, the stipend revision issue has been pending for years despite repeated assurances. He recalled that former Health Minister Banna Gupta had twice promised to revise the stipend when senior residents had approached him at his Jamshedpur residence nearly two years ago.

Dr Rathore detailed the existing pay structure, stating that senior residents in the five medical colleges currently receive Rs 80,000 in the first year, Rs 85,000 in the second, and Rs 90,000 in the third year. The association is now demanding an increase to Rs 90,000, Rs 95,000, and Rs 1,00,000, respectively.

In comparison, senior residents at RIMS Ranchi earn Rs 1.23 lakh per month. Similarly, postgraduate students in the five colleges receive Rs 54,500, Rs 58,500, and Rs 63,500 across three years, while their RIMS counterparts are paid Rs 80,000, Rs 85,000, and Rs 90,000. The gap extends to interns as well, those in Jharkhand’s medical colleges earn Rs 17,500 per month, far less than the Rs 32,000 or more received by interns at RIMS Ranchi, which recently raised stipends by Rs 5,000.

Dr Rathore emphasised that while RIMS is a centrally governed institution, the state-level disparity is unjustified.

As a result, the JDN delegation urged the Health Department to bring interns’ stipends on par with RIMS Ranchi, where interns are paid Rs 33,000 per month. However, the Joint Secretary declined this demand.

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