Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Mar 8: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said that doctors in Kashmir are paid far less than their counterparts in rest of the country and it is hitting the patient care in the region.
The DAK president, Dr Nisar-ul-Hassan said poor wages are responsible for migration of highly qualified doctors to new pastures which is having a knocking down affect on health sector and has badly hit patient care.
“We have lost the best trained doctors due to bad pay and poor working conditions and nothing is being done to hold back these expensively trained doctors.
“While in a Government run hospital at Delhi, a postgraduate is paid Rs 80,000 per month, in GMC Srinagar it is a paltry, Rs 24,000. The salary of a senior resident in Delhi is up to Rs 1 lakh, while in GMC it is just Rs 42, 000,” he said.
The entry level faculty member at AIIMS Delhi draws Rs 1,21,000 which is three times the pay of his/her counterpart in GMC who is paid miniscule, Rs 47,000, he said.
“In addition, faculty at AIIMS gets learning resource allowance, cost of secretarial staff, expenditure on international conferences and research. Also, the legal expenses arising out of any litigation are being born by the institute,” said Dr Nisar.
He said there is nothing to motivate you in Kashmir. “It is not only wages, but poor working and living conditions, infrastructural deficiencies, lack of transparency and political and bureaucratic meddling that pushes people away,” he said.
The DAK president said the way to retain doctors is to treat them well, not to enforce an indentured servitude. “Policy makers should create a conducive environment for doctors to work comfortably at home and also attract those who have left. If the trend is not reversed now, situation could soon turn even worse,” he added.
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