Government-aided homeopathic colleges cry neglect

Around 600 doctors and other non-medical staff associated with seven government-aided homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals are not getting their salaries since May 2012.

Around 600 doctors and other non-medical staff associated with seven government-aided homeopathic medical colleges and hospitals are not getting their salaries since May 2012.

HT Image

The affected employees have threatened to organise a statewide movement demanding payment of salaries.
Those seven homoeopathic medical colleges are Birbhum Saithia Homoeopathic Medical College, Bardhaman Homoeopathic Medical College, Metropolitan Homoeopathic Medical College, P.C Memorial Homoeopathic Medical College , Nitai Charan Homoeopathic Medical College, Kharagpur Homoeopathic Medical College and Asansol Homoeopathic Medical College.

The state government provides an annual grant of around R35 lakh to each college hospital for infrastructure development. But a portion of this grant is diverted for payment of salaries.

But the situation worsened when Mamata Banerjee’s administration directed these teaching hospitals not to divert the funds for salaries. “The state government ordered us not to use the grant money for payment of salary to the teaching and non-teaching staff,” said Mrinal Sarkar, president of the National Homoeopathic Forum of India.
The state homoeopathic medical colleges are also not sure of getting central government’s grant of R2 crore as the state is showing no interest for their development.

“To receive the central funds we need to have a ‘noobjection’ letter from the state. But no one from the state government’s administration replied us so far,” said Sarkar.
There is a huge gap between the salaries of teaching and nonteaching staff of government and non-government homoeopathic colleges in Bengal.

“The monthly salary of a professor of a governmentaided homoeopathic medical college is R5,000 while for the same post a faculty of a staterun homoeopathy medical college is more than R70,000. The state government should take over these sick colleges hospitals, which provide service to 40% patients in districts,” said Sarkar.