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Punjab govt hikes stipend of resident doctors, still lower than Haryana
Earlier, junior and senior resident doctors in Punjab were getting a monthly stipend of ₹ 50,000 and 62,000, respectively.
After over a decade, the Punjab government has finally raised the stipend of resident doctors working in state-run medical colleges by 35%, even as the revised amount paid as honorarium to the medical professionals is lower than those of Haryana and Delhi.
The department of medical education and research in an order dated August 5, said that on the departmental recommendation, the junior resident doctors (non-PCMS) will get a monthly stipend of ₹ 67,968, while senior residents (non-PCMS) and tutors (non-PCMS) will get a fixed honorarium of ₹ 81,562, an increase of around ₹ 17,000 and ₹ 19,000 respectively.
Earlier, junior and senior resident doctors in the state were getting a monthly stipend of ₹ 50,000 and 62,000, respectively.
“Junior and senior residents will get fixed emoluments according to the table, without any yearly promotion and increment. In future, if there is an increase in DA or NPA by the state government, it will not be implemented for them. The tutors who have the qualification of MD or MBBS, they will get honorarium same as senior residents (including NPA) and other tutors will get stipend same as junior residents,” the order reads.
Earlier, the state government had increased the stipend of junior and senior residents in 2011. It was increased from ₹ 44,000 to 50,000 for junior residents. Before that, the stipend was increased in 2009, at that time it was increased by around ₹ 20,000.
However, the stipend hiked by the Punjab government is still lower than what the resident doctors ar getting in Haryana and Delhi, which give ₹ 85,000 and ₹ 95,000 to junior residents respectively. Haryana is giving ₹ 1.15 lakh to senior residents, while Delhi is giving ₹ 1.20 lakh.
Union of Resident Doctors of Punjab (URDP) in May this year had held a meeting with the officials of the department of medical education and research over the hike in stipend.
Dr Prabhsimran Singh, general secretary of URDP, said that this is a big day for resident doctors of Punjab.
“The long-time efforts finally paid off. We thank chief minister Bhagwant Mann and especially to all those who supported in this long journey,” he added.
“The struggle paid off due to the efforts of URDP. The stipend has been increased after more than a decade. Before 2018-19, there were efforts but only at a small scale. We raised the demand strongly and continuously,” said Dr Jaspinder Pratap Singh, ex- president resident doctors’ association of Punjab, government medical college at Amritsar.
