SRINAGAR: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is scheduled to meet representatives of protesting MBBS and BDS interns on Friday afternoon to discuss their demand for enhancement of the monthly stipend, sources said.
The meeting comes amid the ongoing indefinite strike by medical interns across Jammu and Kashmir over the government’s failure to revise the stipend, which currently stands at ₹12,300 per month.
Sources said five representatives from different medical institutions have been nominated to attend the meeting with the Chief Minister.
The delegation includes Dr Tasaduk from GMC Srinagar, Dr Akib Javid from GMC Anantnag, Dr Mohammad Shahnawaz Malik and Dr Tanish Mansotra from GMC Jammu, and Dr Faraz from SKIMS.
The representatives are expected to place before the Chief Minister the interns’ concerns, particularly their demand for increasing the monthly stipend to ₹30,000.
The interns have been on strike since August 31, with protests reported at GMC Srinagar, GMC Jammu, GMC Anantnag, GMC Kathua, GMC Doda, GMC Rajouri, GMC Udhampur and GMC Baramulla, besides SKIMS and SKIMS Medical College, Bemina.
The protesting interns have argued that the existing stipend of ₹12,300 — roughly ₹400 per day — has remained unchanged for nearly seven years despite inflation and the nature of duties performed by them in government hospitals.
The outcome of Friday’s meeting is being closely watched, with interns hoping for a concrete decision on their demand.
