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Senior residents desert medical colleges for higher pay in Bihar
White coat woes some senior doctors in Dumka, Palamu and Hazaribag have been penalised for resigning.
In a major setback to the state government’s efforts to boost its medical colleges, at least two dozen senior residents/tutors from all five medical colleges of the state have deserted their respective institutions and moved to medical colleges in Bihar and private institutions in lieu of receiving higher honorarium.
However, some senior residents from Dumka, Palamu and Hazaribag medical colleges have been penalised for resigning for not giving three years of mandatory service.
Resignation of senior tutors has given a jolt to the newly set-up Palamu Medical College Hospital, Hazaribagh Medical College Hospital and Dumka Medical College Hospital as they were given conditional permission to add 100 MBBS seats in the current session by fulfilling Medical Council of India (MCI) guidelines in three months on Supreme Court’s directive.
Interestingly, the file regarding the enhancement of senior resident honorarium is gathering dust in the state government’s finance department since August.
The current honorarium of Rs 60,000 per month of senior resident/tutors in three new medical colleges is the lowest among the medical colleges in Jharkhand, while their counterparts in Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) are paid Rs 1 lakh per month and in Bihar, they are paid Rs 82,000 respectively.
Deputy Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Abhishek Srivastava on Saturday admitted that a few senior residents have resigned from the colleges.
A senior resident who is set to join Darbhanga Medical College Hospital in Bihar on the condition of anonymity said they had been waiting for an increase in honorarium by the state government as health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni had assured them.
The state health secretary, in August, had assured to increase the honorarium of senior residents after a delegation of Junior Doctors Association (JDA) under Dr Ajit Prasad had met him.
Crisis has begun at Patliputra Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Dhanbad and MGMMCH in Jamshedpur. The state government had appointed a total of 71 senior residents/tutors in PMCH (29) and MGMMCH (42) on June 3. However, only 13 had joined PMCH out of which 11 have resigned while 7 had joined MGMMCH out of which 3 have left.
