We Deserve Equal Pay as Permanent Faculty: 52 AIIMS contractual faculties tell Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan
New Delhi: Highlighting that equal work deserves equal pay, the contractual assistant professors associated with the premier AIIMS New Delhi recently asked the health minister to intervene and implement the decision that gives them equal pay as permanent faculty members. The decision to this effect was passed in 2018 but is yet to see the light of the day in implementation
As many as 52 contractual faculties working in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) as Assistant Professors submitted a letter to Union Health Minister Dr Harshvardhan expressed concern over their pay scale and desired to receive equal payments as permanent faculty members.
Fifty two contractual faculty members, working as assistant professors at the premier medical institute, said they share the workload similar to that of permanent faculty members but their salary is "much lesser" than even the resident doctors who are trained under them.
They said the minister "would agree that equal work deserves equal pay".
While talking to ANI Dr Vijay Kumar, Contractual Assistant professor said, "Since last one year we have been demanding to stop the discrimination. We do not have minimum basic rule either for leaves or of health benefits. Centre's immediate intervention is much required."
The demands for equal pay in AIIMS Delhi and other perriferial AIIMS was approved by Central Institute Body (CIB) in October 2018.
Blaming poor salary scale contractual Asst Proffs stated that young and promising candidates are not joining and hence many of the seats are lying vacant in country's premier medical institution.
"We are afraid that such reluctance would only lead to loss of potentially bright candidates from the institute to the private sector. Being a medical professional yourself, we hope that you would understand the issue we have raised and take a firm step in this regard.
At present, the AIIMS contractual Assistant Professors in Delhi receives gets a salary of one lakh.The contractual Assistant professors work five days a week while being provided only with a basic salary. Whereas their counterparts who work in private receives a salary of a minimum of 2.5 lakh.
Dr Kumar said, "we are not even allowed stickers for car parking saying that we are contractual."
