Karnataka has significantly increased salaries for new MBBS doctors to ₹60,000, specialist doctors to ₹1.4 lakh, and staff nurses to ₹22,000 under the National Health Mission. This revision addresses critical shortages in healthcare professionals due to uncompetitive pay.

BENGALURU: To address the issue of shortage of healthcare professionals under the National Health Mission (NHM), Karnataka govt has announced a significant revision in pay for MBBS doctors, specialist doctors, and staff nurses working in sick newborn care units and intensive care units at govt hospitals.According to the new pay scale, MBBS doctors will now receive a monthly salary of Rs 60,000, up from the earlier range of Rs 46,895 to Rs 50,000, while specialist doctors will see their salaries raise to Rs 1.4 lakh, from the existing Rs 1.1 lakh-Rs 1.3 lakh band. Staff nurses, who previously earned between Rs 14,186 and Rs 18,774, will now receive Rs 22,000 monthly.However, the revised pay scales will apply only to new recruits, meaning that existing staff will continue under their current salary structures unless they resign and reapply. Current employees who reapply will be given preference in recruitment, with two additional marks awarded for each year of service.Health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told TOI on Wednesday: “The revision comes amid concerns that lower pay often discourages qualified medical professionals from applying for [govt] jobs. We believe this led to limited interest from qualified candidates, resulting in long-standing vacancies across health facilities.”Of 1,398 sanctioned MBBS posts, 579 had no takers As a case in point, of the 1,398 sanctioned MBBS posts, 579 had no takers. Similarly, 305 of 899 vacant posts for specialist doctors and 936 out of 9,041 posts for staff nurses went unoccupied. “The new salary structure aims to reverse this trend by offering more competitive compensation,” the minister highlighted.For major clinical specialists in fields such as obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, anaesthesia, general medicine, orthopaedics, surgery and ophthalmology, starting salary has been set at Rs 1.4 lakh, with an additional 2.5% annual increment for relevant experience.Further justifying the salary hike, the minister said: “Every year, salary for existing employees increases by 5%. However, this does not apply to new recruits. We need good, trained professionals to serve our people, and it is our job to compensate them well.”