Punjab: Resident doctors demand fee waiver, hike in stipend

Resident doctors claim medical colleges in Punjab are charging hefty annual fee while paying lowly monthly stipends as compared to institutes in other states

Resident doctors working in government medical colleges across Punjab have written to chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh demanding annual fee waiver and increase in their monthly stipend.

Resident doctors said they are the ones managing Covid wards and handling major workload in government colleges during the pandemic in Punjab. (HT File Photo)

The doctors claimed that despite paying the highest fee in the country, they are being paid the lowest monthly stipend as compared to medical colleges in other states.

“Postgraduate doctors are paying nearly ₹2 lakh annually to government colleges,” the Resident Doctors Association said in the letter, adding that while junior residents receive a monthly stipend of ₹49,000, senior residents get ₹55,000. In comparison, the association claimed, the annual fee for junior doctors at the PGIMER, Chandigarh, and other institutes in Delhi and Haryana is between ₹10,000 and ₹60,000, while they get monthly stipend of ₹80,000-1 lakh.

The doctors said they are the ones managing the Covid wards and handling the major workload in government colleges during the pandemic. “We are cooperating with the college and hospital administrations at every step, and in return, we except government to waive our annual fee besides bringing parity in monthly stipend,” said association general secretary Dr Prabsimran Singh.