Postgraduate interns at Dr Patnam Mahender Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences (PMRIMS) in Chevella, Telangana, went on a strike on Monday, June 9, demanding the release of pending stipend.
For the past several months, students have been demanding the college administration to release the pending stipends, regularise the stipend payment on monthly basis, and increase the stipend amount at par with the government medical colleges as per the Government Order (GO) 59, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
Distressed over repeated requests and representation to the college authorities over the pending dues, the medical students resorted to a strike in the college campus.
According to the students, the stipend due for the second year PG students was pending since the month of September and the due for the first year batch which joined three months ago was also held back.
The issue further exacerbated as the students enduring hardships with a meagre stipend amount of Rs.10,000 since the first year, demanded that the stipend must be increased as it was difficult to bear the expenses, the college administration dismissed the demands and pushed to stay put with the payment amount.
A second year PG student, Dr Mohammed Ismail, speaking to The New Indian Express, said, "We have been asking the college authorities since the first year to increase the stipend. While we somehow managed with the mere amount of Rs.10,000, we demanded that they must increase the stipend as per the Go 59, but to no avail. Moreover, none of the college authorities are taking accountability for the issue and washing hands instead of addressing our grievances. We are tasked with working for longer shifts, but not paid for the same."
According to GO 59 issued by the state government in the year 2023 for the government medical colleges in the state, the PG first year students will be paid a stipend amount of 58,289 and the second year students Rs 61,528.
On similar lines, the students at PMRIMS demanded a hike in the stipend. However, the administration did not agree to increase the stipend to even Rs 15000 or Rs 20,000, leaving them in a limbo.
Students stated that the college administration had a practice of depositing Rs 50,000 into the students' bank accounts to document that the stipend was deposited, and then forced them to return Rs 40,000, leaving them with only Rs 10,000, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
Moreover, when the first year students of the new batch demanded for the release of dues pending for three months, the college administration demanded the parents deposit a sum of six lakhs to the college, which could be processed as a stipend to the students.
Another first year student said, "We have paid the fee on time and have been working sincerely in the long duty hours. We are demanding the stipend, which is rightfully ours, but the college authorities instead asked our parents to deposit more money, which could be used to pay our stipends, which is certainly unfair."
Students said that they attempted to approach the authorities several times over last one month but to no avail, after which they intimated the authorities of calling a strike three days back, before they finally sat in protest on Monday, June 9. They planned an indefinite strike unless the college met their demands.
When The New Indian Express reached out to college authorities, they refused to comment on the issue.
