The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Doctors submit proposal

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Tuesday, Dec 11, 2007
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Doctors submit proposal

Staff Reporter

If accepted, all doctors will get salary hike: KGMOA

Expense not to exceed Rs.21 crore
Government seeks time to study the proposal

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association on Monday submitted a proposal for ‘special pay’ to government doctors. This, according to the association, would benefit the entire cadre and would not exceed the Rs. 21-crore package declared by the government earlier. The proposal, which was drawn up after deliberations at KGMOA’s State committee meeting at Kochi on Sunday, was submitted to the Chief Minister and the Health Minister. The government has sought time to study the proposal.

Entry cadre

KGMOA has proposed that doctors at the entry cadre – assistant surgeons -- be paid 30 per cent of their current basic pay as special pay. Thus, assistant surgeons, who have a basic pay scale of Rs. 12, 590, will get an increase of Rs. 3,777.

At the next level (after eight years), that of civil surgeons, KGMOA has proposed 25 per cent of the basic pay as special pay. Civil surgeons, whose basis pay is Rs. 16,650 will get an increase of Rs. 4,162 as special pay.

It has been proposed that doctors in the deputy director (non-cadre) rank, who would have put in 16 years of service, be given 20 per cent of their basic pay as special pay. With a current basic pay of Rs. 23,200, they will get an increase of Rs. 4,640.

In the ranks of Additional Director and Director of Health Services also, a special pay of 20 per cent of the basic scale has been proposed. Those in the ADHS rank, with a basic pay of Rs. 25,400 will get a special pay of Rs. 5,080, while for the DHS, whose basic scale is Rs. 26,600, the special pay will be Rs. 5,320.

Now, there are 3,803 posts of doctors in Health Service. Going by this proposal, the government’s annual additional expenditure on salaries would be around Rs. 17 crore. KGMOA estimates that when the next instalment of DA (20 per cent) is declared in February, an additional Rs. 3.53 cr. would be incurred. Even then, it would be within the Rs. 21-crore package that the government has already declared for doctors.

“There are 800 vacancies in Health Services. In effect, the government will save another Rs. 5 crore and the actual additional burden will only be Rs. 16 crore, even after the DA is declared in February,” the State president of KGMOA, Sunny P. Orathel, said. He said that the proposal would ensure that all doctors in Health Service get a pay hike between Rs. 3,500-4,000.

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