On the fourth day of the strike by the postgraduate (PG) resident doctors at Mahadevappa Rampure Medical College (MRMC) Kalaburagi, Karnataka, the college administration has assured to address the allegations of ‘stipend scam’ made by the students.
The PG medical students at the institute have been on strike since Tuesday, February 27, alleging that the college management has been withdrawing a major fraction of their stipends every month.
It was claimed that while every month, the students receive a stipend of Rs 45,000; Rs 50,000; and Rs 55,000 per month for first, second and third-year PG residents, respectively, as mandated by government regulations, the same is systematically withdrawn by the college management later, leaving only an effective amount of Rs 8,000, Rs 10,000 and Rs 12,000 with the students.
In the letter issued to the protesting students dated March 1, Dean Dr SM Patil said that he is unaware of the previously withdrawn stipend amount.
“This issue is being investigated after Post Graduates have submitted a letter for the first time on this issue on 19-02-2024. Internal enquiry will be done from next week and will be addressed accordingly,” the letter read.
However, the management assured that henceforth, the full stipend will be paid to the PG doctors regularly and no unnecessary extra fee will be collected from PGs anytime, in any format.
The dean also assured that the pending stipend amounts for December 2023 onwards will be credited to their accounts as per NMC regulations today, March 1.
Strike continues
Despite the assurances, the protesting medicos are yet to call off their strike, calling the letter a "half-positive" reply.
Speaking to EdexLive, one of the PG medical students from MRMC Kalaburagi, said, “Most of our demands have been addressed but we are still not satisfied. The strike will continue until all our demands are met.”
In their response to the Dean’s letter, the students wrote that the response regarding the previously withdrawn stipends is "vague".
“We need further clear-cut clarification in writing, and to come to an amicable understanding of the present situation, we agree to call off the strike on only one condition that we will go ahead with filing an FIR now which will be withdrawn once your internal investigation comes out with a positive outcome and our withdrawn stipend is returned to us,” the students shared.
