Nearly 450 junior doctors, who passed their postgraduate (PG) examination from state-run medical colleges, have demanded that their nine-month waiting period after the scheduled completion of their course in May last year be adjusted against their mandatory three-year post-PG bond period in which they have to serve at government health facilities.

These doctors are presently waiting for posting, which the state health department is yet to notify, after the Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU) declared the PG results on December 22 last year.

“On Thursday, we requested Bihar’s additional chief secretary, health, Pratyaya Amrit to adjust our waiting period against the duration of our post-PG bond. He told us that the department was in the process of notifying the posting of doctors,” said Dr Harendra Kumar, a former president of the Junior Doctors’ Association (JDA), Bihar, and also one of the 450 doctors now waiting for posting.

The government had extended by three months the 36-month PG curriculum, which was earlier scheduled to end in May last year, as per the academic calendar, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“After our PG tenure ended in August, late by three months, the AKU then delayed conducting our final examination. It initially deferred our examination for almost a month to October 6 and then took two-and-a-half months to declare the results. We are now waiting for the state government to post us in different districts on merit-cum-choice basis so that we can complete our post-PG bond,” said Dr Kumar.

“We medicos are not responsible for the delay either in completion of curriculum, convening of examination, declaring results or posting of doctors. So, why should we be penalised for the delay? As such, we are requesting the government to adjust this waiting period against the duration of our three-year bond.

“The state health department is in the process of notifying the posting of such doctors. It is likely to be issued next week,” said a government officer, who requested anonymity, saying he was not authorised to speak to the media.

All such doctors will be posted either as senior residents in medical colleges or as specialist medical officers in government health facilities.

The health department had posted all such PG doctors as senior residents in medical colleges last year, on merit-cum-choice basis, when the first such batch of medicos who had to serve the three-year post-PG bond passed out. This is the second batch of doctors after the government introduced the three-year post-PG bond in 2017.

The PG doctors, on the other hand, are impatient as they are neither getting monthly salary from the government nor the PG stipend.

“Our monthly PG stipend has stopped after completion of tenure and we are not getting salary from the government during this intervening period when we wait for our posting. It’s a double loss for us, both financially and professionally because we cannot even practice anywhere else as all our educational testimonials are with the medical college. We will get them back only after we complete the mandatory three-year post-PG bond. So, unless the government notifies our posting, our career will not move ahead,” said Dr Kumar.

PG medicos in state-run medical colleges get a monthly stipend of ₹68,545 in the first year of the course, ₹75,399 in the second year and ₹82,938 in the third and final year. As senior residents, they get a monthly gross salary between ₹85,000 and ₹95,000 (approx).