Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Orders for specialty cadre issued

Thiruvananthapuram: The State government has issued orders implementing the Speciality/Administrative cadre in the State Health Services, creating 951 posts of Junior Medical Consultants (JMC) and 603 posts of Medical Consultants, which are equivalent to the existing grades of Assistant Surgeons and Civil Surgeons respectively.

However, the pay scales of the new cadres are no different from the pay scales of the existing grades of the doctors. The Junior Medical Consultant’s pay scale (11,910-19,350) and the Medical Consultant’s scale (16,650 – 23,200) continue to be the same as that of the existing grades of Assistant and Civil Surgeons.

The special allowances offered by the government to those in the Speciality/Administrative cadre are Rs.12,660 for Junior Consultant; Rs.1,665 for Medical Consultant; Rs.2,320 for Senior Medical Consultant and Rs.2,540 for Chief Medical Consultant; which will be payable from April 1, 2007.

The government has also offered a Common Special Allowance of Rs.2,000 to all doctors in active patient care duty.

However, the government seems to have gone back on its earlier offer of enhancing PG allowance by three times and has retained it at the existing rate of Rs. 460.

Doctors working in rural areas and other medically under-served stations will get an enhanced allowance of Rs.2,000 instead of the existing Rs.1,650.

However, those working in Community Health Centres/Primary Health Centres in Corporation and Municipality areas will not get this. Additional Special Allowance to those working in ‘Difficult Rural Areas’ (currently five stations), will get a revised allowance of Rs.5,000 instead of the existing Rs. 3,300.

Medical Officers talking casualty duty will be paid at the rate of Rs.150 per duty, limited to a maximum of Rs.2,500 per month.

Medical Officers who are doing administrative duties have been offered an enhanced non-practising allowance at Rs.3,000 for Assistant Surgeons and Rs.3,500 for Civil Surgeons.

Due to the shortage of qualified doctors for Administrative cadre, some of the posts proposed earlier will be retained in the general category for the time being.

In the administrative cadre, the entry cadre will be re-named as Medical Officer, the next level being that of Assistant Director or Superintendent.

The GO also says that the allowances declared will be protected and ‘considered positively’ while fixing the pay structure of the doctors in Health Service at the time of next pay revision.

Meanwhile, the Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association refused to comment on the GO as the entire issue of cadre implementation and pay revision of doctors is now under the High Court’s scrutiny.

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