Rajendran K, Thiruvananthapuram7 minutes ago
The Indian Medical Association had stated in a survey that 82% of doctors in Keralam are receiving incorrect salaries. 81% of doctors are forced to work in conditions similar to bonded labor.
Doctors employed in private hospitals in Keralam are facing difficulties despite having a health infrastructure considered one of the best in the country. In these hospitals, a junior doctor, despite having an MBBS degree, earns merely ₹20,000 for working 12 to 24 hours per day, very often. This salary is equivalent to that of a cleaner.
In fact, Kerala is producing more than 7,000 doctors every year, while the requirement is only 600 to 700. In healthcare, this is called ‘overflooding’. Hence, the system that accommodates doctors in government hospitals has collapsed.
This forces several junior doctors to either remain unemployed or work in private hospitals for salaries equivalent to those of cleaners.
The Indian Medical Association stated in a survey that 82% of doctors in Kerala are receiving incorrect salaries, and 81% are forced to work under conditions akin to bonded labor despite having spent lakhs of rupees on their education.
Minister said – can’t say anything to private hospitals
In this survey, the state Health Minister, K. Muralidharan, says that private hospitals are autonomous institutions, so they cannot interfere with their internal salary structure. Understand the whole matter with two cases…
Case-1: 24 hours of work, but a very low salary
Bhaskar spoke to 26-year-old Dr. Sree Lakshmi from Thiruvananthapuram in this regard. She said that when she didn’t get a seat in a government college, she spent more than 1 crore to do MBBS from a private self-finance college.
After graduation, I worked for 2 years as a junior doctor in a private hospital. At that time, I used to get only ₹20,000 per month for working 12 to 24 hours every day. Fed up with mental and physical exploitation, I quit the job. See the irony: immediately after my resignation, hundreds of doctors lined up for that low-paying job.
Case-2: Government job, but no salary
Dr. Devika, 28, from Kochi, says that she got a seat in a government medical college based on her excellent NEET score. After MBBS, I prepared for PG for 4 years, but was not successful.
It’s difficult for a career to sustain without specialization, so I joined a ‘temporary’ job at the government’s Family Health Center for ₹56,000. Here, there is a large crowd of patients, but there is no exploitation like in private hospitals. I haven’t been able to get my salary for the last four months. That’s why I have started looking for jobs in Europe or Gulf countries.
