Srinagar, Sep 7: The ongoing stipend dispute among medical interns in Jammu and Kashmir has intensified, with MBBS and BDS interns refusing emergency-duty assignments and interns at SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, beginning a hunger strike, while veterinary students have also joined the agitation seeking enhancement of their internship allowance.
According to reports by News Agency KNT, MBBS and BDS interns across Jammu and Kashmir have decided not to undertake emergency-duty assignments as part of their ongoing protest over stipend-related demands. The interns have maintained that their agitation is aimed at seeking a fair and revised stipend.
The protest has taken a more serious turn at SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, where MBBS interns of the 2021 batch have reportedly begun a hunger strike. The protesting interns are demanding a formal written government order on the stipend issue, maintaining that assurances without an official order are not sufficient.
The interns have also sought enhancement of their monthly internship stipend to ₹30,000, according to the KNT report, and have urged the authorities to formally address their demand.
Meanwhile, the stipend agitation has expanded beyond medical and dental interns, with veterinary students across J&K launching a protest seeking enhancement of their internship allowance.
The Jammu and Kashmir Veterinary Students Association (JKVSA), representing students of SKUAST-Jammu and SKUAST-Kashmir, has raised concerns over what it describes as inadequate internship allowances. The students have called for revision of the existing stipend, citing the financial demands and responsibilities associated with their internship training.
The veterinary students have also pointed to the disparity between the allowance available to them and stipends provided to veterinary interns at several institutions elsewhere in the country.
With MBBS and BDS interns escalating their protest through withdrawal from emergency-duty assignments and hunger strikes, and veterinary students joining the demand for enhanced allowances, the stipend issue has now emerged as a wider concern among professional students undergoing mandatory internships in Jammu and Kashmir.
The protesting students have called for a formal and time-bound resolution of their demands by the authorities.
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