Bringing relief to postgraduate doctors and house surgeons at Government Wenlock Hospital in Mangaluru and at Chigateri Government Hospital in Davangere, the State government has directed the principals of Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Mangaluru, and JJM Medical College to pay them monthly stipend. A letter, dated February 5 on the same, was released to 54 house surgeons at the Government Wenlock Hospital a day after they went on a protest demanding payment of stipend here on Wednesday.
In the letter , Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education, said the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India had objected to paying stipend to private college students serving at the government hospitals.
The Medical Council of India has laid down norms that the medical college needs to have its own hospital and it has to pay stipend for students serving in the hospital.
Hence the two colleges should pay stipend to their postgraudate doctors and house surgeons, the letter stated. “We are awaiting action from the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (which manages the KMC),” said house surgeon Chirantan Suhird, who is the president of Intern’s Council of KMC, Mangaluru.
The 54 surgeons, who studied MBBS under the government quota at the KMC, have been working at the Government Wenlock, the Lady Goschen hosptials, and primary health centres here since March 2019.
So far they have not been paid monthly stipend of ₹20,000. Their one-year internship comes to an end by the end of this month.
The 35 postgraduate doctors from the KMC, who are serving in the two government hospitals, also face the same problem. They are not regularly paid monthly stipend of ₹20,000 (for first year), ₹30,000 (for second year) and ₹35,000 (for third year students). The house surgeons and postgraudate doctors of JJM Medical college, Davangere, face the same problem.
The house surgeons of KMC had submitted memoranda and had met Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan and Health and Family Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu and also the Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa to address their issue. Mr. Narayan told the house surgeons on February 7 that letter will be sent to two medical colleges to pay the stipend.
