Srinagar, Sept 4: Medical interns across government medical colleges in Kashmir on Friday decided to continue their strike, saying they were not satisfied with the outcome of a meeting with Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo over their demand for an increase in monthly stipend.
A delegation of protesting interns held a meeting with the minister, which lasted around one to one-and-a-half hours.
The interns said the government assured them that the process for enhancing their stipend had been initiated and that an order could be issued within a month.
However, the interns said they sought a written assurance and a clear timeframe for implementation, maintaining that verbal assurances were not sufficient as similar commitments had been made in the past.
“We asked for a written order or a clear timeframe specifying how many days the process would take. We have been receiving verbal assurances for a long time, but nothing of that sort has happened,” said Dr Zamin Javed, an intern at GMC Anantnag, said.
He said the interns would return to their respective colleges and discuss the outcome of the meeting with other students before deciding on the future course of action.
“The doors for further talks have been kept open by the minister, and we welcome that. But until we get a written assurance, the strike will continue,” Javed said.
The interns said they did not want to remain on protest and wanted the issue resolved at the earliest.
The protesting medical interns said negotiations with the government would continue and warned that the intensity of the protests could increase if their demand for a written assurance was not addressed
MBBS interns across medical colleges and hospitals in Kashmir had suspended work since Monday and staged protests demanding an increase in their stipend, which they said has remained unchanged for nearly seven years.
The interns currently receive around Rs 12,300 per month, equivalent to roughly Rs 400 per day, and are demanding that it be increased to Rs 30,000.
They said interns work long hours, including night duties and 24-hour shifts, and are involved in patient care alongside senior doctors.
“Weekly work hours are more than 90 hours in many cases, yet we are getting around Rs 400 per day. This is among the lowest stipends in the country,” a protesting intern said.
The interns also cited higher stipends in several other states, saying the amount ranges from around Rs 25,000 to Rs 44,000, with Odisha and West Bengal among the states offering higher stipends. UNI
