Kolkata, 24 February (H.S.):The West Bengal government has decided to increase the salaries of junior doctors working in state-run hospitals. On Monday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made the announcement, stating that salaries will be hiked for interns, postgraduate trainees, and postdoctoral trainees. Under this revision, senior resident doctors will receive a salary increase of ₹15,000 per month, while other categories of junior doctors will see an increase of up to ₹10,000.

The Chief Minister made this announcement at a doctors’ conference held at the ‘Dhanadhanya’ auditorium in Alipore, Kolkata. She detailed that diploma-holder senior residents, postgraduate senior residents, and postdoctoral senior residents would receive a salary hike of ₹15,000, whereas interns, house staff, postgraduate trainees, and postdoctoral trainees would see a ₹10,000 increase in their pay.

With this revision, diploma-holder senior resident doctors will now receive a monthly salary of ₹80,000, up from ₹65,000. Postgraduate senior residents’ salaries will be raised from ₹70,000 to ₹85,000, while postdoctoral senior residents will now earn ₹1,00,000 per month, an increase from ₹75,000.

Additionally, the Chief Minister announced an extension of the private practice limit for government doctors. Previously, government doctors were allowed to practice privately within a 20-kilometer radius after completing their mandatory eight-hour government service. This limit has now been extended to 30 kilometers. However, she also warned that negligence in patient care at government hospitals would not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Hindusthan Samachar / S P Singh