Thiruvananthapuram: Medical college teachers are up in arms against the government's failure to revise their pay scales. The last pay revision for medical college teachers was in 2006.
Subsequently pay revision took place for the state government employees and teachers in 2010 and 2015 respectively. The process for their third pay revision has also begun.
Kerala Government Medical College Teachers Association (KGMCTA) president Dr Suresh Babu said the medical college teachers and other teachers were currently getting salary commensurate with University Grants Commission scales.
Though three years have passed since University Grants Commission scales were implemented as per the recommendations made in the central government's Seventh Pay Commission report, there is no justification in denying the revised scale to medical college teachers.
He said while college teachers have to carry out teaching and research activities only, the medical college teachers are entrusted with a host of responsibilities including disease control and treatment duties besides various disease prevention programmes undertaken by the national health programmes.
KGMCTA state secretary Dr Nirmal Bhaskar reminded that the medical college doctors were in the forefront of fighting Nipah virus and providing relief and rehabilitation to people affected by devastating floods last year.
Moreover, the doctors say that they are entrusted with the responsibility of running government medical colleges which were started in various parts of the state without putting in place proper infrastructure facilities.
"The indifferent attitude of the authorities towards pay revision of medical college teachers is unacceptable," he said.
The KGMCTA has demanded immediate implementation of pay reforms failing which the association will be forced to resort to agitation.
