JnK medical students body moves Health Minister Itoo seeking pay revision for resident doctors

Srinagar: Pointing out disparity in stipends among resident doctors, medicos have sought the government to make a comprehensive revision and enhancement of stipends for postgraduate residents and remuneration for senior residents across government medical institutions in the state.

With this, the association also demanded parity in postgraduate students' stipends with other State and Central Government medical institutions, citing Regulation 5.4 of the National Medical Commission's Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER 2023).

Writing a letter to the Health Minister on September 14, the Jammu and Kashmir Medical Students Association (JKMSA) stated that PG and Senior Residents in government medical institutions are receiving lower stipends and remuneration compared with doctors at several other government institutions in the Union Territory, and sought a revision of the existing pay structure.

In its letter, the JKMSA raised several key issues concerning resident doctors' stipends and remuneration.

Remuneration

Comparing the current remuneration of residents at various government medical institutions, the association said that PG residents at Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) receive approximately Rs 80,000 per month in the first year, Rs 85,000 in the second year and Rs 88,000- Rs 90,000 in the third year. Senior Resident remuneration at SKIMS was stated to be around Rs 1.30 lakh or more per month. Similarly, Senior Resident remuneration is approximately Rs 1.40 lakh or more at AIIMS Jammu.

For Government Medical College (GMC), Chandigarh, it cited PG resident stipends of more than Rs 1 lakh per month and Senior Resident remuneration of around Rs 1.40- Rs 1.50 lakh or more.

On the other hand, the JKMSA stated that the current figures at GMC Jammu are Rs 64,000 per month for first-year PG residents, Rs 68,000 for second-year residents and Rs 72,000 for third-year residents. Senior Residents, it said, receive Rs 94,000 per month.

Highlighting this disparity, the association said, "These benchmarks demonstrate the substantial remuneration differential faced by resident doctors in our state institutions and reinforce the need for a comprehensive, rational, and time-bound revision of both PG Resident stipends and Senior Resident remuneration. The above figures may kindly be formally verified against the applicable official orders/pay structures during the Government review."

Stipend parity under NMC rules

The JKMSA also referred to Regulation 5.4 of the National Medical Commission's (NMC) Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER), 2023.

Section 5.4 of the regulations mentions, "The post-graduate students undergoing post-graduate Degree/Diploma/Super-speciality courses in all the institutions shall be paid a stipend at par with the stipend being paid to the post-graduate students of State Government medical institutions/Central Government medical institutions, in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located."

Also read- Uniform Stipend for all PG Medicos in a particular State, UT: NMC

The association therefore requested a comprehensive assessment of prevailing PG stipends across GMC Jammu, GMC Srinagar, SKIMS, AIIMS Jammu, and other applicable Government medical institutions in J&K, with any disparities rectified in accordance with NMC requirements.

Highlighting the clinical responsibilities of PG residents, the association stated in its letter, "Postgraduate residency is simultaneously a period of specialist medical training and intensive clinical service."

It added that PG residents routinely undertake 24x7 emergency and casualty duties, inpatient assessment and management, critical-care responsibilities, night and on-call duties, peri-operative and post-operative care, specialty procedures, operation theatre and labour-room duties, OPD services, interdepartmental referrals, clinical documentation, and academic teaching, training and supervision of junior trainees.

Rationalisation and Periodic Revision

The association further sought a mechanism for periodic revision of PG stipends. It said the review should consider government pay revisions, inflation, cost of living, remuneration in comparable institutions, and changes in the working environment.

It also stressed that the demand for Senior Residents should be considered separately from the PG resident stipend issue. It emphasised that Senior Resident remuneration requires independent consideration and should not be subsumed merely within the PG stipend demand.

"Senior Residents are postgraduate-qualified doctors/specialists (MD/MS/DNB) appointed to provide specialist clinical services and academic supervision. They are entrusted with significant responsibilities including independent patient management, handling critically ill patients, specialized procedures, operative responsibilities, and supervising junior residents," it said.

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