Oct 02, Kathmandu - The Nepal Medical Association (NMA) has urged the government to provide incentive allowances to doctors working under scholarship contracts and daily-wage arrangements in government health facilities.

In a press release issued Friday, the association said it was concerned that doctors who have served in the health sector for extended periods remain excluded from incentive payments.

The Health Ministry’s Guidelines for Mobilizing Scholarship-Recipient Doctors and Health Workers, 2014 (2071 BS) provide that contract-based doctors and health workers are entitled to the starting salary scale of the relevant government service and group, along with local and other allowances and benefits.

However, the NMA said contract and daily-wage doctors at government health institutions have so far been denied incentive allowances and other facilities.

The association said the government has a responsibility to ensure equal benefits for equal work, both to maintain health workers’ morale and to improve service delivery in the sensitive health sector.

It added that scholarship-contract and daily-wage doctors serve continuously alongside other health professionals and should not face discrimination.