E-Paper
Bihar PG docs waiting for govt posting may move court
A group of medical practitioners, who completed their postgraduate (PG) course from state-run medical colleges last year, are contemplating to move the court if the state health department does not heed their request to adjust the nine-month delay against their post-PG service bond period, said doctors.
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A group of medical practitioners, who completed their postgraduate (PG) course from state-run medical colleges last year, are contemplating to move the court if the state health department does not heed their request to adjust the nine-month delay against their post-PG service bond period, said doctors.
Around 450 doctors of the 2018-21 all-India NEET PG batch, are now waiting for the state health department to notify their posting at different government health facilities across the state, where they have to serve the three-year mandatory bond period. The wait has only become longer after the Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU) declared the PG results on December 22 last year.
The delay has forced around 29 of the 450 doctors to not apply to the state health department for posting at government facilities, after the PG course was extended by three months till August, the exams then conducted in September and results declared in December.
These doctors now intend to pay the penalty amount of ₹25 lakh to the government for breaking their post-PG service bond.
Bhukya Shankar from Kerala and Arohi Jain from Madhya Pradesh, who have done their PG in medicine; Shijimol G (Telangana), MD in anaesthesiology, all from Patna’s Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), and Shalini (Jharkhand), MD in anaesthesiology from the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), are some of the doctors who have decided to break their post-PG service bond and pay the penalty amount to the government.
“We would have lost 10 months by the time the government notifies our posting and the doctors join their respective place of posting. To serve another three years in Bihar after the 10-month wait is too long a period. Moreover, we will have communication problem in rural Bihar. As such, I am inclined to break my post-PG service bond by paying up the penalty amount and return to my home state in Kerala,” said Shankar, born and brought up in Kerala, who recently got married.
Shijimol G, who hails from Warangal in Telangana, echoed Shankar’s sentiments.
“We are not responsible for the delay. So, why should we be penalised for it by expecting us to stay for another three years in Bihar? The government should adjust the period of delay beyond May last year against our post-PG service bond,” said Shijimol.
Shalini, who hails from Jharkhand, is also determined to return to her husband, who is posted in Bangalore. Shalini had done her MBBS from MVJ Medical College in Bangalore and wants to return soon by paying the penalty amount of breaking the post-PG service bond.
Some others like Dr Pandu Azmeera from Telangana, Dr Yudhisthir Yadav, Dr Yashpal Jajoria, Dr Ambarisha C and Dr Manjunath Chandramappa, all post graduate doctors from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JLNMCH) in Bhagalpur who have applied for government posting, are still undecided about their future course of action.
“We will wait for a few more days and then decide if we should knock the doors of the judiciary, seeking direction to the state government to adjust the nine-month delay against our post-PG bond period,” said Dr Pandu Azmeera of the JLNMCH.
“Our batch mates have already given a representation to the Bihar health department to adjust the delay against our bond period. If the government does not concede our request, we may move the court,” said Dr Azmeera.
Top health department officials didn’t respond to calls and messages.
These doctors have neither been getting their full stipend since last August, after completing the PG curriculum, which was extended by three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, nor the remuneration of a senior resident they are entitled to while serving the three-year bond with the government.
“Our posting was supposed to have been notified last week itself, as per the assurance given to us by senior officers in the health department when I last met them on February 10. Unless the government notifies our posting, our career will not move ahead,” said Dr Harendra Kumar, former president of the Junior Doctors’ Association who completed his masters in surgery (MS) from the PMCH, and also among the 450 doctors now waiting for posting.
PG medicos in state-run medical colleges get a monthly stipend of ₹68,545 in the first year of the course, ₹75,399 in the second year and ₹82,938 in the third and final year. In the three-year tenure posting as senior residents, they get a monthly gross salary of around ₹85,000 in the first year, ₹90,000 in the second year and ₹95,000 in the third year.
