Pune’s Sassoon interns write to minister demanding hike in stipend

The request comes against the backdrop of the BMC offering to pay the same amount to its intern doctors serving Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients in various hospitals

Interns at the BJ General Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital have written to the Maharashtra minister of medical education to hike their stipend from Rs 11,000 per month (current) to Rs 50,000 per month. The request comes against the backdrop of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) offering to pay the same amount to its intern doctors serving Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 patients in various hospitals.

Sassoon General Hospital’s new building where Covid-19 patients are treated. (Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

The letter states, ‘Pune has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases all over Maharashtra. The hospital is not only handling the load of Pune district, but also of the neighbouring districts. Each patient coming to the hospital is being attended without us being aware of their Covid19 status and the testing and reporting of Covid-19 takes time. We are being posted in wards, OPDs and intensive care units, wherein we come in direct contact with the patient. Interns working at BMC hospitals have been granted Rs 50,000 stipend per month during the pandemic and we have a similar demand. We request you to provide us Rs 50,000 stipend as well.’”

The letter also states that “while interns working in BMC hospitals are given enough personal protective equipment (PPE) kits, at Sassoon, the interns are directly exposed to the patients and later, it is confirmed that they are Covid-19 positive”.

Dr Tatyarao Lahane, director of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) under which the hospital functions, said, “The BMC has offered to pay its interns Rs 50,000 per month and so this decision to hike the stipend needs to be taken at the local level. Also, the stipend cannot be hiked across the state for a few students. There are only 200 beds at Sassoon and so, only a few of the interns are attending to these patients in rotation, such a decision cannot be taken by the DMER.”

Dr Parag Patil, a final year student working and studying at BJ medical college, said, “ We are working in Covid and non-covid wards every alternate week and so, the pressure on us is comparable to the doctors working in any Covid-19 hospital in the city. We are ready to work, but currently our stipend is too less as compared to Mumbai and we would want it to be on similar lines.”