DMCH faculty will get additional 25 pc of basic salary as

Assam Government on Wednesday announced that faculty members of the newly set-up Diphu Medical College and Hospital will get an additional 25 per cent of basic salary as an incentive. Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told a press conference that the incentive of 25 per cent of additional basic salary is being given to retain the faculty members in a "tough terrain" like Diphu, the headquarters of the Karbi Anglong district.

"All the faculty of the Diphu Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) will get an additional 25 per cent of their basic salary as an incentive," he added. If any retired professor wants to join the institute, then he will be able to serve till 70-years of age, Sarma said.

"Besides, if a faculty member works in DMCH for three years during any period of his entire career, his retirement age will be 67-years instead of the existing age-limit of 65 years," he added. These benefits will be applicable only to the faculty members, who will mostly be from outside Karbi Anglong.

"The other non-teaching posts will be filled up mostly from the local youths of the district," Sarma said. When asked about the reasons behind this special treatment only for the DMCH, Sarma said Diphu is a "tough terrain" and establishing the medical college in the district was the "toughest job" for him as the Health minister of the state.

"We have appointed 58 faculty members so far and 57 have already joined. We want them to stay there. That is why we are offering something extra. However, we have seen that mostly the medical teachers leave the job after some time for better opportunities," he added. Sarma said doctors have aspirations in their lives and unfortunately, Diphu does not have good amenities like good restaurants, big shopping malls and other luxury avenues for relaxation.

Besides DMCH, three more medical colleges are under construction at Dhubri, Lakhimpur and Nagaon, which will start functioning from 2020-21. Currently, Assam has six medical colleges at Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat, Tezpur and Barpeta.

Apart from these, the Assam government is setting up three more medical colleges at Nalbari, Kokrajhar and Tinsukia with a total of 1,500 beds at an investment of Rs 1,186 crore. Once all the medical colleges are operational in the next 2-3 years, the state will have a total of 13 medical colleges..

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