BENGALURU: Postgraduate medical seat aspirants have a reason to rejoice. The government has decided to hike the stipend paid to PG medical students from the 2019-20 academic year onwards. As per information from a Department of Medical Education official, the stipend will be increased by Rs 5,000 to `10,000 per month. “The fee we have increased recently is per year, and the stipend hikes will be monthly. So students need not be upset over the fee hike,” said the official.
Currently, PG students get a stipend of Rs 30,000 in the first year, Rs 35,000 in the second year and Rs 40,000 in the third year. This will be increased by between Rs 5,000 to 10,000, say officials. As the model code of conduct is on, the department cannot announce the hike in stipend. This stipend is for all PG medical seat students under the government quota or those seeking a seat at a government medical college.
The government had announced a fee hike for PG medical courses by 15 per cent for the next academic year. With this hike, the fee, under the government quota for clinical seats, costs Rs 5,81,900, para-clinical seats at Rs 1,45,475, and pre-clinical seats at Rs 72,737. This fee hike was opposed by students and various student organisations.
PG aspirants have welcomed the development. Dr Pramod N, state convenor of White Spark, a forum for medical and dental students in Karnataka, said, “This is a good move, we welcome it. But linking this hike in stipend with the fee hike is not acceptable. The stipend students are getting is for the service they do at government hospitals, and most hospitals are run by PG students.”