Pune: Intern doctors from the 2020 batch at BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital launched an indefinite strike on Tuesday, protesting the non-payment of stipends for the past three months. The interns have warned that essential medical services could be affected if the issue is not resolved promptly.
The interns began their mandatory internship on April 5 but claim they have yet to receive any stipend since then, leading to significant financial hardship. They allege negligence on the part of the hospital administration and are demanding urgent redressal.
The Maharashtra government had earlier announced a hike in the monthly internship stipend, but the protesting interns say they have not received any payments under the revised structure, or otherwise, since their internship began.
“It’s been over three months since we started working here, but we haven’t received a single rupee. We’re expected to give our best in patient care, but how can we survive without money?” said one intern, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The strike is expected to disrupt primary and emergency services at Sassoon Hospital, where interns play a vital role in daily patient care and operations. The striking interns have submitted a formal letter to the college dean outlining their grievances and demands.
Among the issues raised are being compelled to open accounts only in the Bank of Baroda, long-term absence of responsible administrative staff handling stipends, failure to send necessary documents to the treasury on time, and false claims about missing attendance, and what they describe as insensitive behaviour from the Dean, with no written assurances offered.
{{/usCountry}}Among the issues raised are being compelled to open accounts only in the Bank of Baroda, long-term absence of responsible administrative staff handling stipends, failure to send necessary documents to the treasury on time, and false claims about missing attendance, and what they describe as insensitive behaviour from the Dean, with no written assurances offered.
{{/usCountry}}The interns have made three key demands: Immediate disbursement of all pending stipends since April 5, creation of a transparent system to ensure timely stipend payments in the future and assurance that no disciplinary action will be taken against interns participating in the strike.
Commenting on the claims, Dr Eknath Pawar, dean of BJMC and SGH, said, “There is no strike by the interns. They only approached us to demand their stipends. The claim that they haven’t been paid for three months is incorrect. This is a new batch that joined in April. Now that everything is processed online, we no longer issue cash or cheques. We asked them to open bank accounts and submit the required documents, which they completed only by the end of May.”
Dr Pawar added that the situation escalated after a clerk allegedly argued and behaved rudely with the interns.
“That incident triggered Tuesday’s protest. The students had not raised the issue earlier with the Vice Dean. In some cases, delays in opening bank accounts have slowed down the process, which is why the formalities are taking longer,” he explained.