PG Medical Students in Bihar get Stipend Hike, to get remuneration from Rs 68,000 to Rs 83,000
Patna: Agreeing upon the demands of protesting junior doctors in Bihar, the State Government recently issued an order to increase the stipend of postgraduate medical (PG Medical) students by Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000 effective from January 2020.
With this, the post-graduate medical students in Bihar would now get their salary increased by Rs 18,000 to 25,000.
In the order dated January 8, 2021, Kaushal Kishore, Bihar Health Department, Additional Secretary, Bihar government has given the details of the revised stipend, wherein, the first-year PG students will now receive a stipend of Rs 68,545, while the second and third-year students would receive Rs 75,399 and Rs 82,938 respectively as their monthly stipend.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that 1000 junior doctors of the government medical colleges and hospitals in Bihar had called for an infinite strike seeking a hike in the stipend amount. The protesting doctors of a total of nine medical colleges and hospitals including Patna Medical College and Hospital had boycotted work that resultantly hit the healthcare services.
According to the Junior Doctors Association Bihar, the pay structure of junior doctors in Bihar had not been revised since 2017. The junior doctors had been getting rupees 50,000, Rs 55,000, and Rs 60,000 respectively, but doctors had been demanding a raise in monthly stipend for PG courses to Rs 80,000, Rs 85,000, and Rs 90,000 in the first, second, and third-year respectively. Junior Doctors Association had warned that it would not end the strike till their demands were fulfilled by the government.
Also Read: Junior Doctors Go On Indefinite Strike Demanding Stipend Hike, Healthcare Services Hit In Bihar
Taking cognizance of the plight of patients in Bihar, the Congress party along with other influential personalities had asked the Chief Minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, to intervene and take necessary action in order to end the ongoing strike by the junior doctors.
Other than the political parties, the Federation of All India Medical Association had also submitted a letter to the health minister stating " We doctors have worked hard for our community during COVID crisis. But in return, we are not getting any increment of a stipend. It was decided by the health ministry that our stipend increment would be in every three years. It had to be in January 2020 but the year has passed and still, we are getting the stipend. Kindly look into the matter on an urgent basis."
Also Read: Health Services Cripple In Bihar As Junior Doctors Continue Stir, CM Nitish Kumar Asked To Intervene
Delighted with the recent order, FAIMA congratulated the Bihar doctors in its tweet as, "It is a combined struggle of everyone."
Further, as per a recent media report in TOI, NMCH Junior Doctors' Association president Dr. Ramchandra Kumar thanked the government for its decision and requested an increase in the stipend of the interns as well.
