A 23-year-old woman from Udupi, working as a house surgeon in the Government Wenlock Hospital, is feeling let down by the State government as she did not get her stipend of ₹20,000 per month since this March.
“I am among the 51 house surgeons taken by the government to serve at the hospital on a monthly stipend. We are toiling hard, serving patients here, but we are being denied the stipend that we ought to get,” she said.
The 51 surgeons are students of Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru, pursuing their one-year MBBS internship. They were admitted to the college under the government quota. In addition, 36 doctors pursuing their post graduation at KMC and simultaneously serving at the hospital said they have not received the monthly stipend.
A doctor, who is in his second year of post graduation, said, “I have not paid the EMI for the education loan that I have taken as I have not been getting the stipend.” Another PG student said he was forced to delay payment of rent.
They said the house surgeons have to get a monthly stipend of ₹20,000, while the PG students should get ₹30,000, ₹35,000 and ₹40,000 for the first, second and third year of their service. Though the government has sanctioned ₹2.36 crore for paying them, the Department of Medical Education has not released it citing objection by the Principal Accountant General.
The Principal Accountant-General last year objected to paying stipends. Hence, the department did not pay the stipend from March to September last year. Following representation by students, who cited a High Court of Karnataka ruling on the stipend, the government released the amount later.
The department has cited the same objection this year to deny stipend since March. A delegation of students have met Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and also Health and Family Welfare Minister Shivananda Patil and have given their representation. “Though both of them assured us of action, nothing is forthcoming,” a student said.
H. Rajeshwaridevi, Superintendent, Wenlock Hospital, on September 1 wrote to Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Sentil S. requesting him to recommend to the State government to pay the stipend to the students like how students under the government quota in private colleges get a stipend for serving in government hospitals in other parts of the State.
