PG students of medicine protest over outstanding stipends

Postgraduate intern doctors at Dr Patnam Mahender Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences (PMRIMS) in Chevella, Telangana, staged a strike on Monday, June 9, for the release of outstanding stipend.

For the last few months, the students have been requesting the college administration to disburse the pending stipends, regularize the stipend payment on monthly basis, and hike the stipend amount at par with the government medical colleges under the Government Order (GO) 59, according to a report by The New Indian Express.

Disturbed by repeated pleas and representation to the college administration regarding the outstanding dues, the students of medicine decided on a strike in the campus of the college.

The second year PG students' stipend was pending since September and the first year batch that joined three months ago was also not paid, the students said.

The problem continued to worsen as the students who were facing difficulties with a paltry stipend amount of Rs.10,000 from the very first year asked that the stipend be hiked because it was not possible to meet the expenditure, the college administration rejected the requests and insisted on remaining at the payment amount.

A second-year PG student, Dr Mohammed Ismail, in an interview with The New Indian Express, said, "We have been requesting the college authorities since the first year to hike the stipend. Though we managed somehow with the paltry amount of Rs.10,000, we requested that they should hike the stipend according to the Go 59, but nothing happened. Also, none of the college authorities are taking responsibility for the matter and washing hands instead of hearing our grievances. We are assigned to work for extended shifts, but not being 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.

Similarly, the students at PMRIMS also asked for an increase in the stipend. But the administration was not willing to hike the stipend to even Rs 15000 or Rs 20,000, and they were left hanging.

Students informed that the college administration had a policy of crediting Rs 50,000 to the students' bank accounts to record that the stipend was credited, and then compelled them to return Rs 40,000, retaining with them only Rs 10,000, as per the report by The New Indian Express.

Furthermore, when the first-year students of the new batch requested for release of three months pending dues, the college administration asked the parents to deposit a total amount of six lakhs to the college, which could be made payable as a stipend to the students.

Another first year student informed, "We have been paying the fee on time and have been working sincerely in the long duty hours. We are claiming the stipend, which is our due, but the college authorities instead requested our parents to deposit more money, which could have been utilized to pay our stipends, which is definitely unjust."

Students claimed that they tried to meet the authorities several times during the last one month but in vain, after which they informed the authorities of announcing a strike three days ago, prior to finally sitting in protest on June 9, Monday. They organized an indefinite strike unless and until the college addressed their demands.

When The New Indian Express contacted college authorities, they declined to provide a comment on the matter.