IMA’s charter of demands to fix minimum wage for junior doctors in private hospitals of Kerala
IMA is planning to hand over a charter of demands to the Chief Minister and Health Minister demanding fixation of basic salary and the stipend to house surgeons.
Published: 01st May 2018 02:54 AM | Last Updated: 01st May 2018 02:54 AM | A+A A-
File Image for Representational Purposes.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Close on the heels of the notification of minimum wages for nurses, the IMA is planning to hand over a charter of demands to the Chief Minister and Health Minister demanding fixation of basic salary and the stipend to house surgeons, postgraduate doctors, junior doctors and specialist doctors in private hospitals.
The charter of demands which will be handed over in a meeting scheduled to take place in the first week of May will also urge the state government to come out with a package for small hospitals in the private sector.
“We brought out the demand of fixing minimum wages after we received a slew of complaints,” said Sulphi N, state secretary, IMA.“Based on the same, we embarked on a fact-finding mission. We had already covered 18 medical colleges. On Tuesday, we will cover the rest of the medical colleges in Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram districts.”
According to him, during the fact-finding mission, the IMA noted that in some hospitals, junior doctors and PG doctors were paid abysmally low and were asked to work 24 to 36 hours. While stressing the need to protect small hospitals, IMA anticipates the recent minimum wage notification might result in an increase in medical expenses.
“The fact is, around 70 per cent of the population relies on small hospitals in the private sector. But we fear the fixing of minimum wages might bring huge financial burden to them and in turn, lead to its closure. To avoid this, the state government could provide them aid,” said Sulphi.
At the same time, the IMA said when meeting with the Chief Minister and the Health Minister, it will also highlight the need to raise the financial allocation of the health sector to 5 per cent as it observes that the present allocation is grossly inadequate.
According to the IMA, once it happens, it will result in the improvement of the basic infrastructure of hospitals and rise in the quality of medical education on par with international standards.
