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"Half of my stipend goes towards hostel and mess fee. How will Rs 12,000 suffice when it comes to fulfilling basic needs?" questioned intern doctor of King George Medical College (KGMC), Uttar Pradesh, Dr Abhinav Kumar. The intern doctors of the state will be on an indefinite strike until their demand for a hike in the stipend is fulfilled. The strike which started on July 22 hasn't yielded any response from the government or any officials yet.
"There hasn't been any response from the government, and the intern doctors are still on strike," said Dr Ayush Katiyar, an intern at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) in Greater Noida. According to the intern doctors, they have tried to reach officials by every possible means and are staging a #Twitterstorm every day at 9 pm.
Abhinav Kumar recalls that the stipend for interns in the UP state was Rs 7,500 until protests rose demanding a hike in 2020. With this, the government has increased the stipend to Rs 12,000 for the intern doctors. "It has become a cycle now — protests lead to hike," Abhinav Kumar told EdexLive.
A batch of 200-250 interns at KGMC, around 1,000 students from Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences (UPUMS), Safai and many more interns from government medical colleges across the state are on strike suspending their duties.
"My father is dependent on agriculture earning an amount of Rs 20,000 to 25,000 per month. I am the eldest and my siblings are in higher secondary classes. After studying for these many years, and working, how can I ask my family for my financial needs?" remarked Dr Amrish Jaiswal, intern at UPUMS.
Letter to officials
Further, he told EdexLive that a letter has been submitted to the District Magistrate and the office of the Chief Minister seeking the fulfilment of their demands. Abhinav Kumar told EdexLive, "Our attempts to meet the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were not fruitful as he was busy on the Guru Purnima Day."
In a letter dated 22 July 2024, addressed to the District Magistrate of Greater Noida, the interns outlined their grievances and demands. "We are paid only ₹12,000 per month by the Uttar Pradesh Government, which is very low relative to the contributions we make in medical service. We demand an increase of ₹30,000 in our monthly stipend," the letter read.
Additionally, it mentioned that the interns have repeatedly attempted to escalate the issue to the highest levels of government, but their concerns have been ignored by both the Uttar Pradesh government and the Ministry of Education.
No stipend batch
While a hike in stipend is the primary demand of the interns, another group of interns claims that they haven't received a stipend for months. Dr Kuldeep Kumar, an intern at Sarojini Naidu (SN) Medical College, Agra told EdexLive, "We haven't received a stipend for the past three months. We haven't paid the mess and hostel fee and it is embarrassing to ask for food without paying fees."
"Curriculum, syllabus, workload and working patterns are all the same when compared to interns of other states. But we are paid a very basic stipend. Why is the UP government doing this?" Kuldeep questions vehemently. Emphasising the need for a hike, the interns, while speaking to EdexLive, were worried that many interns are from humble backgrounds and won't even have sufficient funds for studying material.
Speaking on this, Dr Raunak Yadav from UPUMS, said, "Internship stipend in Uttar Pradesh is the lowest. Besides the hostel and mess fee, there are other expenses like basic medical equipment such as stethoscope and blood pressure machines, travel charges, mobile recharge and others."
Adding to this, Abhinav Kumar said, "Few of my batchmates are from humble backgrounds with less income. They have difficulty in managing monthly expenses along with buying study material to prepare for further studies."
"Seniors are our second parents"
When asked about the mental strain the interns undergo, Abhinav Kumar said, "Our seniors are our second parents. They have been through all these difficulties. They counsel us and guide us through difficult times." Additionally, he highlighted that their duty timings are not fixed and they are called whenever there is a necessity, at any time.
"We have breakdowns, however, we are mentally prepared for this profession. We understand that we will have no time to cry, take rest or even think about taking rest," he said, adding that simultaneously, preparing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) examination is overwhelming.
