Senior Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Friday asked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to raise the stipend of resident doctors who are working in medical colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The former minister also demanded to waive the annual charges which the resident doctors are required to pay.
Addressing a press conference here, Majithia said resident doctors working in medical colleges in the state are being charged "very high" fee and given a "nominal" stipend vis a vis their counterparts in Delhi and neighbouring states including PGIMER, Chandigarh.
"The resident doctors in Punjab medical colleges also have to pay very steep hostel charges vis-a-vis their counterparts in neighbouring states," he claimed.
While resident doctors in Punjab medical colleges of Amritsar, Patiala and Faridkot are charged a fee of Rs 2 lakh per annum, those in neighbouring states have to pay between Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000 only, said Majithia.
He said the resident doctors in Punjab receive Rs 49,000 monthly stipend against Rs 80,000 to Rs 99,000 per month received by those in neighbouring states.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader said medical colleges in Punjab were also charging "very high" hostel fee of Rs 6 lakh for three years against Rs 1 lakh in neighbouring states.
Requesting the chief minister to correct these "anomalies" in the interest of the health system and patient care in Punjab, Majithia said the stipend of medical doctors should be increased to Rs 1 lakh per month immediately.
He said the fee being charged from them should be waived and the hostel charges should be reduced to Rs 1 lakh for three years.
"The government should not delay accepting the just demands of the resident doctors who are at the forefront in the fight against COVID-19," he said.
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