Frustration reached a boiling point at the Government Dental College and Hospital in Shimla as postgraduate MDS resident doctors launched an extensive campus demonstration against administrative delays and difficult working conditions. The agitating doctors voiced sharp anger over enduring three consecutive months without their monthly stipends. Compounding their financial distress, the residents revealed that a persistent shortage of clinical supplies inside the hospital forces them to purchase dental tools and procedural materials out of their own pockets to treat visiting patients.
Slogans of 'No Stipend, No Work' Echo Across the Dental Campus
Doctors gathered on campus grounds carrying banners and raising spirited chants, prominently shouting slogans such as 'No Stipend, No Work' and 'No excuses, no denial, we want our rightful dues.' Protesting doctors pointed out that mandatory regulations set by the National Dental Commission (NDC) require academic stipends to be disbursed within the first week of every calendar month. Contrary to these statutory guidelines, residents at the institution face chronic delays lasting two to three months before seeing any funds credited. Sharing his ordeal, third-year resident Dr. Pranav explained that despite reaching the final stretch of his postgraduate education, he is regularly compelled to make endless rounds of administrative desks just to ask for his rightful earnings, receiving no clear timeline regarding payout dates.
No Hostel Infrastructure Available Since Institution's Inception in 1998
Beyond missing payments, residents raised alarms over long-standing accommodation shortages. Highlighting institutional negligence, Dr. Hridesh Kumar Dixit noted that while the dental college first began operations back in 1998, authorities have failed to build or allocate residential hostels for resident doctors over the span of nearly three decades. As a direct consequence, postgraduate medics are left with no choice but to rent private accommodations at steep prices in Sanjauli and nearby localities. Several doctors reside in peripheral settlements bordering forested areas, where daily safety remains compromised. The danger was underscored by a recent episode where an MDS resident doctor suffered an attack by aggressive monkeys near their residence.
Out-of-Pocket Clinical Purchases and Looming OPD Service Suspension
The daily challenges inside hospital clinics were outlined by Dr. Tanuja Thakur, who explained that clinical departments frequently run short of basic consumables and procedural supplies essential for standard patient care. Rather than turning patients away without treatment, doctors frequently dig into their depleted personal savings to buy supplies directly from local markets. When resident doctors attempt to pursue their unpaid stipends with the accounts division, staff members merely redirect them from one department to another without resolving the delay. The protesting doctors have dispatched a formal letter of demands to the college principal, warning that if their pending stipends are not credited promptly, they will shut down hospital OPD services and embark on a comprehensive strike. Responding to the crisis, college principal Dr. Yogesh Bhardwaj stated that required paperwork to release the pending stipends for MDS resident doctors is currently in motion and funds will be distributed once the relevant files clear his final signature.
