VIJAYAWADA: PG medical students of Management quota on Wednesday staged a protest here against the implementation of GO MS 99 and working as senior resident doctors in private hospitals.
The Medical Education department has issued notification to all the medical colleges to start senior resident-ship from this Wednesday. The PG students who passed out in 2017 have to work for a year in government or private hospitals across AP.
For those who have completed their PG course in convener quota, a stipend of Rs 28,000 will be paid to PG diploma candidates, Rs 33,000 to degree candidates and Rs 41,000 to PG super specialty candidates per month. Similarly, a stipend of `50,000/- for PG Diploma and Degree candidates shall be paid per month to the candidates admitted under the management quota by the institute.
The students of Management quota are objecting the government decision of making them work in private hospitals only. The students of management quota are demanding the government to cancel the GO 99 and also consider them to work in government hospitals too.
N Sravya, a private college PG student, said, “Until last year, the management quota students are also eligible to work in government hospitals with an honorarium of `33,000 per month. But from this year, the government divided the convener quota students and management quota students. Though we wanted to work in government hospitals, the management is forcing us to work in private hospitals. We are demanding the government to at least provide us the option to choose whether to work in government institutions or private ones.” Meanwhile, the opposition parties are also opposing the government order in making the management quota students to work in private hospitals.
Dr Ambati Radhakrishna, co-chairman of APCC doctor cell, said, “The State government is always supporting private hospitals. There is no need to make compulsory for the management quota students to work in private hospitals at a time when the government hospitals in tribal and agency areas are facing acute shortage of doctors.”
“The different stipend offered to convener quota students and management quota students itself shows the favouritism of government towards private hospitals,” he said. While trying to contact, the Director of Medical Education didn’t respond. A senior official of the department said that a committee would be constituted to discuss the issue and come up with a decision.