‘Hike’ in DNB docs stipend could actually help cut it

The National Board of Examination (NBE) has revised upwards the stipend for doctors doing its post-graduate medical programme, Diplomate of National Board (DNB). However, the notification could actually have the effect of stipends being revised downward by as much as Rs 20,000 a month in many states, a huge saving for private hospitals and a shock to the doctors.
The April 2 stipend notification states that the minimum stipend is revised from the Rs 25,000 fixed in December 2013 for first year DNB students to Rs 35,000 along with a corresponding increase in stipends for the second and third years. It states that DNB students must be paid the NBE stipulated minimum stipend or what state governments pay to doctors doing post-graduation in government medical colleges, “whichever is higher”.
“No state government pays less than Rs 35,000 to its MD/MS students/residents,” stated the Association of DNB Doctors in a letter to NBE adding that in this context the minimum stipulation of Rs 35,000 had no meaning.
According to the notification, hospitals have to pay only “basic stipend according to state government policy” and this “does not include any kind of allowances paid to MD/MS candidates”. Once allowances are removed, and the 7th pay commission’s basic pay is applied, DNB students would start with Rs 56,100 as stipend in states where the state government pays stipend to MD/MS students as basic pay plus allowances. In states paying a consolidated sum, private hospitals with DNB seats have to pay the same as the government.
Currently, in states where the 7th pay commission has been applied, such as Delhi, DNB students are getting Rs 60,000 to Rs 80,000, much lower than the Rs 94,000 paid by Delhi government to its resident doctors doing first year of post-graduation. DNB students had filed cases against such hospitals. “With the new notification, the NBE has not only legitimized the lesser stipend that these hospitals were paying but also helped cut the stipend down further to about Rs 56,000 by giving hospitals the liberty to cut the allowances that state governments give," explained Teena Gupta of the Association for DNB Doctors. By saving Rs 20,000-Rs 40,000 per month on each DNB doctor, private hospitals could save crores annually.
However, NBE in response to TOI’s queries stated that the new notification was to clarify the phrase “basic stipend according to state government policy” as hospitals and students were interpreting them in different ways leading to litigation. NBE asserted that the notification does “not decrease any minimum sum that was required to be paid earlier”. An NBE spokesperson pointed out that the stipulated minimum of Rs 35,000 was useful in states like Karnataka where the stipend paid was just Rs 30,000.
DNB students from across the country have complained to the NBE regarding non-payment, delay in payment and arbitrary slashing of stipends. “The NBE is of little help to students. They do not respond to complaints or intervene. But they are very responsive to the hospitals and managements’ demands for a reduction in stipend,” said a DNB doctor based in Delhi. “Why can’t NBE say that DNB students have to be paid the same as what states pay MD/MS students instead of making allowances optional?” he asked.
NBE regulates about 7,000 DNB seats mostly in the private sector. The entrance exam for DNB this year was taken by about 1.4 lakh students.
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