Over 200 contractual doctors working with the now trifurcated Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) have appealed to the Delhi government to “put an end to their harassment immediately” and look into revising their salary structure, which the doctors claim need immediate attention and rectification.
In a letter issued by this group of doctors, they have noted that their “appointment was made by the unified Corporation through the same parameters and process of selection and placed in different Corporations as per the interest of the organisation.”
“Remuneration paid to contractual doctors in the unified Corporation was not at par with the contractual doctors of the Delhi government. However, even after a Central Administrative Tribunal order where the MCD was directed to pay the petitioners (MCD doctors) at par with their counterparts in the Delhi government with arrears since 2007, the Corporation did not pay heed,” noted the doctors in their petition.
The doctors complain that their harassment with regard to the payment of salary has continued. “After the trifurcation, the lead Corporation (North) passed a resolution in October 2012 stating that for all doctors, including medical officers (allopathic, ayurvedic, homeopathic and dental, also non-teaching specialists), remunerations should be paid at par with the Delhi government (basic pay and other allowances including annual increments and variables). This was implemented in November 2012 and salary paid to contractual doctors in the North Corporation was at par with Delhi government doctors till March this year,” said a doctor who did not want to be named.
He adds that now “all of a sudden, an order by the North Corporation in the last week of April has decreased remunerations.”
“Annual increments, conveyance and academic allowance have been withdrawn and the basic pay of non-teaching specialists has decreased from Rs. 18,740 to Rs. 15,600,” he added.
Doctors are now complaining that even after eight months of running from pillar to post, the South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations’ contractual doctors are being paid fixed remuneration (medical officers are paid Rs. 45,277 and non-teaching specialists Rs. 47,632 per month) and the new salary structure has not been implemented.
“We feel that great injustice has been done to contractual doctors working with the Corporation. They are performing the same functions for the same number of hours as regular doctors and in some cases are running complete departments or even an entire dispensary. These doctors are also being posted against sanctioned regular posts which means that the Corporation is getting budget for the same from the Centre and not passing onto the doctors their rightful due,” said a doctor with the Corporation.
