The Uttar Pradesh government has called on final year nursing and medical students and interns to serve in the fight against COVID-19, for shift rates that range from Rs 300 to Rs 500.
The announcement, made on behalf of the director, general medical education and training, calls upon the health workers to “serve in the struggle against the pandemic”. The call is for 12 government medical colleges in addition to autonomous institutions like the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow; Super Speciality Child Hospital and Training Institute, Noida; and the Ram Manohar Lohia Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow.
The notice says that the call is being made to fill the gap in manpower in hospitals and laboratories.
It mentions that the personnel will be paid on the basis of the salary slabs in the National Health Mission with an additional 25 per cent for those posted in COVID wards and 10 per cent for those posted in laboratories.
At these rates, the per shift payment for an MBBS intern is Rs 500 (in addition to internship amount) while it is Rs 300 for a final year student of MBBS. For students of MSc (Nursing) the rate is Rs 400 for a shift while BSc (General Medicine) students will be paid Rs 300. This is more than the compensation offered to ward boys and sanitation workers at Rs 350 per shift.
For physicians the rate is Rs 2,500 per shift while for chest physicians this is slotted at Rs 5,000.
Retired physicians have also been asked to apply.
Laboratory technicians who conduct COVID-19 tests are to be paid Rs 495 per shift while lab attendants are to be paid Rs 359, which is lower than what data entry operators are to be paid—Rs 421.
All those selected for the above—through walk-in interviews and through the medical colleges specified in the list—are to serve for COVID-19 duty for at least 14 days. They will also be provided meals and active quarantine as per government norms.
As per the National Health Mission’s report on Administrative Approval, FY 2020-21 for UP, staff nurses are paid Rs 18,000 while lab technicians are paid between Rs 15-24,000 plus. The remuneration for physicians is Rs 90,000.
The said rates are to be applicable from May 1, 2021 to July 31, 2021.
