PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
Postgraduate doctors and intern doctors continued their protest on Thursday outside the OPD building of the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) Hospital, demanding a hike in monthly stipend. About 250 intern doctors took out a protest rally from the hospital premises to Gandhi Park, Clock Tower and back to the hospital, along with PG doctors.
The PG doctors started their protest on Tuesday while intern doctors started their protest earlier on Monday. On Thursday, they took out a rally to draw the attention of authorities towards their demands. The PG doctors said that they have been continuously demanding a hike in stipend from around Rs 69,000 to Rs 1,25,000. They said that they joined the intern doctors’ rally to raise their voice and will continue the protest till a written order or concrete action on their demand is received. Many PG doctors said only verbal assurances have been given so far, but they want a written order specifying when and how much increased stipend will be given.
MBBS intern Dr Kunal Singh said that they have been continuously organising the protests since Monday. Around 200 to 250 interns took out the rally covering Gandhi Park and Ghanta Ghar on Thursday. “We want to draw the attention of the government and concerned authorities towards our demand of increasing the stipend from Rs 17,000 to Rs 30,000. Since 2017, our stipend has not been increased. The concern was raised before the authorities earlier but no action was taken, that is why we have organised the protest,” he said, adding that the protest will continue till a written order is provided.
Notably, both PG and intern doctors have boycotted OPD services but are continuing emergency services, emergency OT and other essential services. Similar protests are being held in other medical colleges of the State.
