'No Increment For 10 Years': Tamil Nadu Doctor Opens Up About Being Underpaid After 26 Years Of Government Service

Chennai: Dr. Jaison Philip, a medical practitioner from Tamil Nadu, is a Senior Assistant Surgeon for the government and receives pitifully low pay. Over the previous ten years, the doctor stated that they had not received a rise. He talked about the ways that corruption occurs in the medical field.

Raised Concerns

The assistant surgeon in the Tamil Nadu Health Department has been receiving a low salary of 1.29 lakhs after 26 years of government service. The actual salary should be at least 1 lakh rupees higher, and the arrears alone amount to around 40 lakhs. The assistant surgeon has been promoted once after 8 years of service but has not been given an increment. The low salary is attributed to the corruption of the Tamil Nadu Health Department's government clerks, who demand bribes for work. The assistant surgeon's morale is affected when such injustice is meted out to a senior doctor performing live/cadaver transplants. The issue of grievance redressal mechanisms for doctors and officers responsible for PT welfare should also be addressed to tackle the problems faced by employees in the Health Department.

Report That Supports The Claims

According to a recent report by doctors' associations, doctors in medical colleges in India, specifically in Tamil Nadu, are paid less than teachers in state-run veterinary, agriculture, engineering, and arts and science colleges. Despite two government orders promising pay hikes in 2009 and 2021, neither has been implemented, causing doctors to boycott services unless emergencies occur. Medical colleges start with a gross salary of over Rs. 79,000 a month, Rs. 2,500 higher than other teaching institutions. The association demands pay parity with central government doctors, time-bound promotions, similar work-based allowances, and retirement age. If the 2021 order is implemented, super specialists will receive a monthly hike of about Rs. 14,000, postgraduate doctors in scarce departments will receive a hike of Rs. 9,000, and those with MBBS degrees will receive a Rs. 3,000 hike.