Odisha govt agrees to regularise PG medical students' services during pandemic

The state government has decided to regularise the extended PG period of PG medical students during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The medical officers and dental surgeons had requested the Health and Family Welfare department for regularisation of extended PG period to facilitate the continuity of their service during Covid 19 pandemic. The latest is, the Odisha government has decided to regularise PG medical students engaged in the management of Covid-19. 

The decision will be especially beneficial for the PG medical officers and dental surgeons of the 2017 and 2018 batches. The state health department has decided that the extended PG period of the medical officers/dental surgeons of the 2017 and 2018 batches belonging to the Odisha Medical and Health Service (OMHS) cadre and OMS (Dental) cadre will be treated as duty, as reported by Indian Express.

The Background

During the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, in view of the extraordinary situation, the Medical Council of India (MCI) issued an advisory for final-year PG students to continue in their respective medical colleges and hospitals (MCHs) beyond the normal tenure to ensure there is no shortage of residents in handling the pandemic. 

Following this, the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) also instructed the state medical colleges to ensure the availability of accommodation and payment of stipends to all such final-year postgraduate students during the extended period in 2020 and 2021.  

Many Covid warriors' families still waiting for compensation

As per an RTI reply, close to 1600 doctors lost their lives after catching Covid infection during the pandemic, the families of only 428 of them have been compensated by the government under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package.

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