Stipend Hike: Tamil Nadu resident doctors call off strike after Health Minister's assurance

This comes after the authorities called the representatives and held a meeting with the members of Tamil Nadu Resident Doctors Association (TNRDA) to discuss the Non-Service Post-Graduate stipend hike issue and their other demands.

The association had decided to stage a token strike on Wednesday (July 14) and boycott all services in all Government Hospitals in Tamil Nadu on July 15 as an expression of their grief and exasperation at the government for not fulfilling their demands.

Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that the Tamil Nadu resident doctors and medical interns were planning to protest to raise their voice regarding the low stipend paid to the doctors across the State. In a letter directed to the State Government, the association pointed out that the Post-graduate doctors in Tamil Nadu are the least paid across the country, and there had been repeated requests to the Government officers and ministers including the Chief Minister of the State for the last two months for raising the stipend of Non-Service M.D./M.S, D.M./M.Ch, and CRRIs on par with other states.

The PG resident doctors have been demanding a stipend hike of at least Rs 70,000- 80,000 per month for Non-Service MD/MS Post Graduates, Rs 80,000-90,000 for the DM/MCh PG residents, and at least Rs 30,000 for the CRRIs along with a yearly increase in stipend.

Commenting on the recent development, Dr. V Vignesh Rajendran, a Member of TNRDA told Medical Dialogues, " We were called by the health secretary to have a constructive discussion on the non-service pg stipend hike issue. We were assured by the health minister, in the presence of the HS and the DME that our demands will be swiftly met. The govt has asked for 15 days to meet our demands. So TNRDA has decided to temporarily postpone the strike till the end of July to give the govt time to meet our demands."

The doctor further informed, " They have agreed to send a proposal to raise the stipend for MD/MD Pgs by 10k, for super special PGs by 12k, and for interns by 3-4k. They have agreed to add a 3% increment every year."

Minister for Medical and Family Welfare, Government of Tamil Nadu, Subramanian has also shared snippets of the meeting on his social media stating, "On the instructions of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, a discussion was held today with the representatives of the Higher Medical Students and Trainee Physicians' Association regarding the increase in incentives at the General Secretariat ..."