PG Doctors in Private Medical Colleges Struggle as Stipends Remain Unpaid
Hyderabad: Postgraduate doctors in private medical colleges have complained that they have not been paid their stipends for several months. The doctors work full-time in medical colleges. According to the National Medical Commission (NMC), the state has 1,566 doctors pursuing their PG at 21 private colleges, and they have to be paid at par with the government PG students.
PG students in state-run medical colleges are paid Rs 58,289 stipend for the first year, Rs 61,528 for the second year, and Rs 64,767 for third year.
As per the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TARF) recommendations, the fee structure for private medical colleges is: Category A Rs 4.3 lakh; Category B Rs 5.3 lakh and Category C “up to three times of Category B” or about Rs 16 lakh.
A second year PG doctor from Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences in Karimnagar told Deccan Chronicle, “Technically, the stipends are paid on paper. We have not received any stipend for the last two years.”
He explained that the colleges deposit the stipend amount in the students’ bank accounts. Later, it forces the medicos to sign cheques for the amount and collects the money. This creates a payment record. “There is no way to prove that the stipends are due and have not been paid. They have it on record to show the NMC,” he said.
A second year PG student from MNR Medical College in Sangareddy said that they still have to depend on their parents for their expenses as the remuneration is never paid to them.
“We have to think twice before participating in national and international conferences due to the expenses. Doctors from the government colleges can attend these sessions and lead a decent life as they get their stipends. We do not even get 50 per cent of the Rs 64,00 that the government PG doctors are paid,” said a PG student of Mamata Medical College in Khammam.
Dr K. Mahesh Kumar, president, Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), told Deccan Chronicle that private colleges collect up to Rs 2 lakh under various heads, more than the specified fee. They also collect the stipends by operating dummy accounts. “This is a money laundering fraud,” he alleged.
Officials from other colleges were not available for comment.
Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) adviser Dr M. Rajeev Naik said the association would take the issue to the NMC if the private colleges do not pay stipends to medicos.
