Himachal Pradesh CM announces hike in monthly stipend of resident doctors

SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu on Saturday announced the introduction of an "incentive policy" for doctors and a hike in the monthly stipend of resident doctors. Sukhu also said Rs 5 crore would be provided to five medical colleges for the development of infrastructure for bone marrow transplant.

He made a slew of announcements for hospitals and the health sector while presiding over the annual function at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla. The chief minister said in the next budget, the monthly stipend for PG resident doctors would be raised to Rs 50,000, Rs 60,000 and Rs 65,000 in the first, second and third year respectively, a statement issued here said.

He added that the stipend for senior residents has been increased from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month, while in super-specialty departments, it has been raised from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.3 lakh. Sukhu said that working hours of resident doctors, which could be as high as 36-hour shifts before, have now been capped at a maximum of 12 hours.

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Rs 5 crore for bone marrow infrastructure development

The CM announced a sum of Rs five crore each for "bone marrow infrastructure development" in IGMC, AIMSS Chamiyana, Tanda Medical College, Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital, Mandi and Dr Radhakrishnan Government Medical College, Hamirpur.

The CM also announced a sum of Rs 5 for laparoscopic facilities and Rs 6 crore for the Department of Anaesthesia at IGMC. He directed authorities to expedite the land transfer process required for the construction of a new student hostel at IGMC and also instructed the principal of IGMC to complete the process of shifting the Gynaecology wing from Kamla Nehru Hospital (KNH) to IGMC at the earliest.

Sukhu added that Rs 75 crore has been approved for setting up smart labs at IGMC, Tanda Medical College and the Super Specialty hospital at Chamiyana The Congress government has spent Rs 1,207 crore on strengthening medical infrastructure and education, he added.