Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Most junior doctors posted under the District Residency Programme (DRP) in Madhya Pradesh are not getting their salaries or stipends on time.
These doctors are posted in batches in various districts for three months under the DRP, which is a part of their PG course, in addition to service under the rural medical bond.
Deputed by the Health Department, there are 3,000 junior doctors in various medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh. For the July-September batch, the Department sent out a list of 533 junior doctors to various medical college deans.
Under the DRP, the salaries/stipends are released by the concerned medical colleges. The colleges, however, blame the junior doctors’ lackadaisical attitude towards work for the delay.
Dr R.K.S. Dhakad, Dean of the Gwalior Medical College, said, “The main reason behind the delay is that colleges do not get the monthly report from the Civil Surgeon or the CMHO. Otherwise, medical colleges do not delay (salaries/stipends) from their side. Junior doctors do not work properly… it is this lethargic attitude of theirs that delays their reports.”
Echoing the sentiment, Dr Navneet Saxena, Dean, NSCB Medical College, Jabalpur, said, “If the junior doctors do not work honestly, how can the Civil Surgeon or the CMHO release their monthly report to us? And we cannot release salaries until we get a timely report.”
However, JUDA president Dr Kuldeep Gupta said, “Around 80-90% junior doctors working under the DRP, which is a part of the PG course, are not getting salaries in time. There is almost a month’s or 1-½ months' delay in clearance of salaries, as it depends on the monthly report.”
