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Thursday, Jan 17, 2008
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House surgeons put State on notice

Staff Reporter

Memoranda submitted seeking hike in monthly stipend

—Photo: Lingaraj Panda

Junior doctors attending duties wearing black badges in Berhampur on Wednesday.

BERHAMPUR: House Surgeons of MKCG Medical College of the city wore black ribbons and held demonstration on Wednesday asking the State government to hike their monthly allowance.

The house surgeons of the State want their allowance to be increased to at least Rs. 6,000 per month. They also received support from the Orissa Medical Teachers’ Association. The house surgeons alleged that they were getting allowance which was less than daily average wage of a skilled labourer in the State.

The house surgeons alleged that their allowance had not been revised since last five years although now house surgeons have to work in extreme remote areas of KBK districts as part of their training. The house surgeons of all three medical colleges of the State have threatened to go on strike if their allowance was not increased.

CUTTACK: Some 300 house surgeons working in all the three government teaching hospitals of the State on Tuesday served an ultimatum to the State government. Submitting memoranda through their respective hospital superintendents, the house surgeons warned that if their demand to hike the monthly stipend were not fulfilled within ten days then they would boycott hospital duties.

The All Orissa House Surgeons’ Association had earlier in a representation to the government demanded increase in their monthly stipend from the present Rs. 2,850 to Rs. 6,000, said association spokesperson Subrat Kumar Soren. “We also requested the government to upgrade the security arrangements in hospitals as has been done in Andhra Pradesh recently,” he added.

“We have served an ultimatum to the government giving it ten days time to fulfil our demands or else we would stop the hospital duties from January 25,” said association president B.P. Mishra. If necessary, we go to streets and solicit the support of other hospital staff associations, he added.

Rally taken out

Over 100 house surgeons of SCB Medical College Hospital here took out a rally and submitted the memorandum to hospital superintendent Trilochan Sahu. House surgeons claim that their stipend was last time hiked way back in 2002 following a series of strikes by the house surgeons. Increasing the stipend from Rs. 1,800 to Rs. 2,850 in 2002, the State government then assured that the monthly stipend of the house surgeons would be hiked in every five years.

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