Bhopal, Aug 29 (IANS): Doctors associated with state government-run medical institutions will get pay scale based on the 7th Pay Commission slabs with effect from January 1, 2016, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said.

The CM also announced on Monday that medical practitioners will receive increments in five, 10 and 15 years without any compulsion of promotions.

Inaugurating a 2000-bed hospital built at a cost of Rs 482 crore at the campus of Bhopal’s Hamidia hospital, Chouhan said that the pay scale of assistant professors in medical colleges would be increased and the rules for shifting of 11 nursing homes in the city would be simplified.

Madhya Pradesh Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang, who was also present on the occasion, said that the state has become the fastest developing state in the country.

The minister stated that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the health sector of India has witnessed tremendous developments in

the past nine years. “There has been a lot of improvement in health services in the country, while the number of medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh is increasing rapidly. Madhya Pradesh has become the first state to start MBBS courses in Hindi,” Sarang said.

The minister further said that, in 2002-2003, the health budget of the state was around Rs 578 crore, which has increased almost 20 times to Rs 11,988 crore in 2023-2024. “In 2003 the number of doctors and para-medical staff was around 7500, which has now increased to more than 51,000. Till 2003, the number of government medical colleges was five, which will increase to 24 in 2023,” Sarang added.