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Intern doctors from Government Medical College in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri on Saturday staged a protest demanding a hike in their stipend.
A protesting intern doctor told ANI,"Today is day six of our protest, and we have only one demand, which is a stipend hike. A stipend enhancement committee was constituted back in 2023, but since then there has been no discussion regarding our stipend, nor has there been any implementation". "It is high time; it is concerning for our state if its doctors are forced to take to the streets for their basic rights. We do not want mere verbal assurances like 'we will do it,' 'it will happen,' 'we will see,' or 'we will look into it.' What we need is concrete action and immediate implementation. Not a single higher authority has approached us to discuss or address our issue. So I think it is high time that our legitimate demand is implemented. Our stipend should be enhanced, at least from 12,300 to 30,000," an intern doctor told ANI. Jammu and Kashmir Education Minister Sakina Itoo told reporters in Srinagar that the "matter is under process." "The demands of MBBS and BDS interns are genuine, and the matter is under process," Itoo said, as quoted by the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference in a post on X. Another protester claimed that the issue has taken a mental toll on the medical students who have been protesting for six days. "We sat in protest on August 31. Yesterday, a meeting was held in the Secretariat with the Chief Minister, where representatives from all over were called, and he asked us to give them one month's time. If they are asking for time, we are willing to give them time, but that does not mean we will call off our protest; our protest will also continue until a final decision is reached. Day and night we remain occupied with this, and there is a kind of mental stress among all the students across Jammu and Kashmir at this time. This stress will only be relieved when we receive a dignified stipend." "Therefore, please consider this as quickly as possible; otherwise, we will withdraw ourselves even from the emergency services that are currently operational, after which problems in patient care will inevitably begin to arise," Sharma told ANI. Meanwhile, BJP MLA Devinder Kumar Manyal met with the protesting interns outside GMC Rajouri. Manyal assured that they will raise the issue in the upcoming session of the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly. "The children who are going to become our doctors are our future; they are the future of our nation, and it should not come to a point where they have to strike for a small stipend hike. As you can see, our MBBS and BDS interns are sitting on strike here outside the GMC OPD. And what is the reason for this strike? It is merely a demand to increase the internship stipend. As I said earlier, when I was an intern back in 1996, our stipend was around Rs 5,000. Today, even after 30 years, they are receiving a stipend of only Rs 12,000. So this is a genuine demand, a demand of these children, and it should be fulfilled. We have come here in support of these children and are reassuring them that in the upcoming Assembly session, this issue regarding increasing the stipend will be discussed with them. He further said that the government should accept the demands of the protesting medical students. "Except for Jammu and Kashmir, almost all other states offer a stipend of over Rs 30,000 to interns, but in Jammu and Kashmir, the stipend is very low. We have come here in their support; there is no politics involved in this. It is a genuine issue, a sensitive issuethese are our children; they will become doctors tomorrow and serve us. I believe the government should accept this genuine demand," said the BJP MLA. (ANI)
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