Patient care at hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir has been affected as medical interns continue an indefinite strike over their stipend. Hundreds of medical interns staged sit-in protests and candlelight vigils, demanding an increase in their stipend. The protesting doctors say they receive ₹12,000 a month and that the amount has remained unchanged for the last seven years.
NDTV's @nazir_masoodi reports
Everyone has an opinion on what interns deserve.₹30,000 seems “too much” to people who have never worked a 24–36 hour hospital shift. Maybe experience should come before opinions.
We can spend crores on projects that nobody asked for, but when interns ask for a few thousand more after years of MBBS, postings, emergencies and sleepless duties, suddenly everyone becomes an economist.
Sadda Haq, Aithe Rakh. 🔥
₹400 a day
That is what J&K pays the MBBS and BDS interns running its emergency wards, night shifts and rural postings. Less than what a daily-wage labourer earns.
The stipend has been frozen at ₹12,300 for seven years. Odisha pays ₹44,319 for the same work.
Today they are on strike across every GMC and SKIMS Bemina, asking for ₹30,000. We need to support them.
MBBS interns held a peaceful candle march today, standing together for a fair and long overdue stipend hike.
Peaceful. United. Determined.
₹30,000 stipend a legitimate demand, not a luxury.
#hikejkinternstipend
They study for years, sacrifice their youth, survive sleepless nights, handle emergencies, stand in OTs for hours and carry the burden of human lives on their shoulders, yet in Jammu & Kashmir medical interns are still being paid just 12,300 per month. That's 410 rupees per day.
At a time when many other states pay their interns almost 2-3 times more, our young doctors are expected to work endlessly with little dignity and almost no financial support.
I have raised this issue multiple times before the authorities, but unfortunately, nothing changes except hollow assurances. A healthcare system cannot become strong by exploiting the very people holding it together.
Respect doctors Respect interns. Raise the stipend.
Enough is enough.
#JKMedicalinternsStrike
Medical interns say their monthly stipend has remained around Rs 12,300 for seven years despite long working hours, night shifts and rural postings.
https://t.co/LLwAyvmDsd
JK Medical Interns Protest Over Stipend
Medical interns across the #Jammu#Kashmir stage a UT-wide protest, demanding a long-pending hike in their #monthlystipend, which has remained at Rs 12,300 since 2019. Watch a video #KashmirLife
@newsagencyknt Apparently, increasing an MLA’s salary from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh takes barely a week to clear through the Finance Department, while the stipend file for MBBS interns has been gathering dust for the past three years.
@RisingKashmir@sakinaitoo@DrMohammadMomin Apparently, increasing an MLA’s salary from ₹1.5 lakh to ₹2 lakh takes barely a week to clear through the Finance Department, while the stipend file for MBBS interns has been gathering dust for the past three years.