“Why do you girls need money? Can’t you get it from your parents?” These questions were thrown back at a woman junior doctor posted on COVID-19 duty at a village health-care facility in central Kerala, when she approached a senior Health Department official to clear her salary dues.
She is among the 1,000-odd doctors from the 2014 MBBS batch in government medical colleges across the State who completed their course earlier this year. The government, through an order on April 29, posted them at various health centres and around 700 people joined the duty. Though the appointment is for a three-month period, many of them are yet to get the salary of ₹42,000 offered by the government even after two months. Representative of the Kerala Junior Doctors Association ’20-’21 on Wednesday approached the Kerala High Court seeking a direction for the early disbursal of their salaries.
According to T.S. Krishnapriya, secretary of the association, the government order was not clear about the designation and remuneration of the junior doctors. Some officials are apparently citing this lack of clarity to delay their salaries, it is learnt.
Short-staffed
Dr. Krishnapriya pointed out that a majority of doctors posted in the COVID first-line treatment centres (FLTC) belong to their group. The junior doctors were often forced to work round the clock as most of the FLTCs are short-staffed, she claimed. “The doctors appointed under the National Health Mission, who have similar designation and experience and are allotted the same duties, are getting ₹50,000 and 20% risk allowance,” she pointed out. Though the government on August 12 issued a direction to release their salaries, most of the junior doctors are yet to benefit from it.
Meanwhile, sources in the Health Department said the Director, Health Services, had urged the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, to designate these doctors as ‘medical officer (temporary)’. Right now, they are designated as ‘outgoing interns’, which is not recognised by the software to release salaries.