Member of Parliament and National Conference leader Aga Ruhullah Mehdi on Sunday criticised the Jammu and Kashmir administration over the handling of the ongoing protest by medical interns seeking an enhanced stipend, claiming that government college principals are coercing them to end their indefinite strike, a day after the health minister called their demands “genuine”.
Mehdi, who recently announced his resignation from the ruling National Conference, said in a post on X that he has written letters to health minister Sakina Itoo and principals of government medical colleges of J&K urging them to refrain from coercing the protesting interns.
“Our interns are being pressured by their principals to end a protest this government has itself called genuine,” Mehdi’s office said in a statement.
The MP questioned under whose instruction the principals were allegedly asking the interns to end their protest.
The state government has failed to persuade the striking interns to call off their agitation on Friday, as a meeting between the health minister Itoo and representatives of the protesting MBBS and BDS interns remained inconclusive.
The interns working at the government hospitals of J&K went on strike on August 31, demanding an increase in their monthly stipends, which they claim are among the ‘lowest in the country’.
{{/usCountry}}The interns working at the government hospitals of J&K went on strike on August 31, demanding an increase in their monthly stipends, which they claim are among the ‘lowest in the country’.
{{/usCountry}}The interns are currently paid ₹12,300 a month and are demanding an increase to ₹30,000.
“These are young people who have given nine years to become doctors and who staff our casualty wards through the night. To protest peacefully is their constitutional right, and they do not forfeit it by wearing a white coat. Whatever is being said to them in the corridors of these colleges should stop, and you are the one who can stop it,” Mehdi said in his letter to Itoo.
The MP said that despite the health minister’s assurances, chief minister Omar Abdullah has still not issued an order announcing an enhanced stipend or assuring that no action would be taken against the protesters.
“These young doctors have been given assurances before and watched them dissolve. That, and nothing else, is why they are still sitting outside. I would be grateful for a reply on the question I have asked,” he said.
The NC-led government had told the legislative assembly in February that it had recommended to the finance department that the stipend be hiked from the existing ₹12,300 to ₹25,000 per month. But seven months later, the stipends have not been increased.
“You have agreed. The chief minister has agreed. A committee agreed in 2023. What has never been produced is an order on paper- the amount, the date it takes effect, and a line stating that no intern will be penalised for having stood outside these colleges. These young doctors have been given assurances before and watched them dissolve,” Mehdi said.
Cong’s Mir flays govt
“Threats, intimidation and warnings of disciplinary action cannot be the government’s response to the already accepted genuine grievances of our young doctors. Instead of circulating coercive directions, the Government must engage with the protesting interns and issue an official, written and time-bound commitment for resolution of their legitimate demands,” Congress leader Adil Farioq Mir said. I urge the chief minister and health minister to intervene immediately, he added.