Andhra Pradesh junior doctors threaten strike over payment of stipend
Vijayawada: Government junior doctors in Andhra Pradesh have given a strike-call seeking release of their pending stipend of the past few months.
The junior doctors say the first-year students are not getting their monthly stipend of Rs 44,500 for the last five months while the second-year students who get Rs 46,500 and the third-year students getting Rs 48,500 are left high and dry for the last three months.
They had served a strike notice to the state government and would stop work from Saturday next, by attending to only emergency cases. They have skipped duty at out-patient ward and are not going for rounds in wards to take care of patients.
Meanwhile, post-graduation students and house surgeons from several private medical colleges complain that they are not getting monthly stipend on par with those from governments medical colleges. They allege that some private managements remit full stipend in their bank accounts for record and ask them to return a part of it to them.
House surgeons complain about extension of two months to complete their internship and want to be relieved by the National Medical Council. They say private managements are asking them to serve at their colleges for the extended period of two months.
Parents committee president and state BC employees honorary president Dr Ala Venkateswaralu alleged in a statement that the Katuri medical college and hospital located in Guntur was paying less stipend to the PG students and house surgeons against the state government norms and are resorting to financial irregularities worth crores of rupees.
He alleged that the management was threatening not to relieve the house surgeons unless they completed their service for the extended two months until end of May, though their internship was getting completed by March 23.
He criticised the college managements for not releasing the Covid-19 incentive to junior doctors so far even as the state government had paid a huge amount to the colleges for this purpose.
He said, “We appeal to the NTR university of health sciences and also the AP Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission to take necessary action.”
NTR registrar Dr K Sankar said, “If there are any irregularities, we will call for remarks from them and take necessary action. Moreover, medical college principals are having the discretion to extend the period of internship for house surgeons.”
