Karnataka Health Department revises salaries of doctors and staff nurses under NHM 

Following approval from the Centre, Karnataka’s Health Department has now made an upward revision in the salaries of doctors and staff nurses, who will be newly recruited under the National Health Mission (NHM).

Announcing the new salary structure at a press conference on Wednesday, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said that due to comparatively lower salaries, a large number of doctor posts under the NHM have remained vacant despite efforts to initiate recruitment processes.

The unattractive pay scale has led to limited interest from qualified candidates, causing these vacancies to persist over a long period. Currently, of the 1,398 approved positions for MBBS doctors under the NHM for 2024–2025, only 819 have been filled, leaving 579 positions vacant. Of the 899 sanctioned posts of specialist doctor, 305 remain vacant. Similarly, 936 of the 9,041 sanctioned posts of staff nurse are yet to be filled.

“Following a detailed proposal submitted by the State government, approval has been granted under the NHM Supplementary Record of Proceedings (RoP) 2024–2026 for the revised pay structure,” he said.

Giving details of the revised pay scale, the Minister said the monthly salary of MBBS doctors has been raised to ₹60,000, up from the earlier range of ₹46,895 to ₹50,000. Major clinical specialists (OBG, paediatrics, anaesthesia, general medicine, orthopaedics, surgery, and ophthalmology) will now receive ₹1,40,000, an increase from the previous range of ₹1,10,000 to ₹1,30,000. The salary of staff nurses has been revised to ₹22,000, from the earlier range of ₹14,186 to ₹18,774, the Minister said.

“In the case of experienced candidates, an additional 2.5% increment per year of relevant experience will be provided at the time of appointment,” the Minister said.

Only for new recruits

Pointing out that the revised salary structure will apply only to newly recruited personnel, Mr. Rao said existing staff would continue to receive their current salaries.

“We cannot revise the salaries of the existing staff as they are already getting an annual increment of 5%. However, they may choose to resign and reapply under the new recruitment process. During this process, preference will be given (weightage of two marks awarded per year of service) to current employees based on their experience,” he said.

He said there was no guarantee that they would get appointed for sure, as the recruitment is purely on merit. “The salary revision is expected to attract a larger pool of qualified doctors under the NHM, thereby improving services related to maternal and child health, surgeries, and both inpatient and outpatient care. “Ultimately, this will enhance healthcare delivery and benefit the public at large,” he said.

Delayed salaries 

Clarifying that the delay in payment of two months’ salaries to the existing staff was because of the delay in disbursal of funds from the Centre, Mr. Rao said the issue would be resolved in the next few days.

“This is a regular phenomenon every year at the start of the new fiscal year. However, we were managing by paying them from the remaining pool of the opening balance. This year, we have spent over 95% of the NHM allocation, and there are no balance funds,” he added.