Bugged with the fee hike, PG medical students in Bengaluru to get a higher stipend

Postgraduate medical seat aspirants for the coming academic year, who were upset over the recent fee hike announced by the state government, are about to receive some good news. The government has decided to hike the stipend paid to PG medical students from the 2019-20 academic year onwards.

As per information from official sources at the Department of Medical Education, the stipend will be increased by Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 per month. "The fee we have increased is per year, and the stipend hikes we are providing is per month. So students need not be upset over the fee hike," explained an official source.

Currently, PG students get a stipend of Rs 30,000 in the first year, Rs 35,000 in the second year and `40,000 in the third year. This will be increased by between Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000, say officials. As the model code of conduct is on, the department cannot announce the hike in stipend. "Although the issue has already been discussed at the government level, it cannot be announced officially," mentioned the official.

This stipend is for all PG medical seat students under the government quota or those seeking a seat at a government medical college. The government had announced a fee hike for PG medical courses by 15 per cent for the next academic year. With this hike, the fee, under the government quota for clinical seats, costs `5,81,900, para-clinical seats at `1,45,475, and pre-clinical seats at `72,737. Even the fee at government medical colleges has been increased recently.

This fee hike was opposed by students and various student organisations who staged protests against the government for agreeing to the fee hike.

PG aspirants have welcomed the development. Dr Pramod N, state convenor of White Spark, a forum for medical and dental students in Karnataka, said, "This is a good move, we welcome it. But linking this hike in stipend with the fee hike is not acceptable. The stipend students are getting is for the service they do at government hospitals, and most hospitals are run by PG students."