PG students, interns on COVID-19 duty threaten strike from May 18

The PG students and medical interns, deputed on COVID-19 duty at Chigateri Hospital in the city, have threatened to go on an indefinite strike from May 18, demanding the release of pending stipend for the past 15 months.

As many as 230 students of JJM Medical College - 133 PG students and 97 medical interns- are risking their lives every single day to treat COVID-19 patients at Chigateri Hospital, which is witnessing a flurry of cases in the past one week or so. These front-line workers, hailed as corona warriors, are denied of their dues. Both the state government and JJM Medical College management have turned a blind eye to their demand.

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A final year PG student in Radiology, JJM Medical College, Davangere, on the condition of anonymity told DH, "The postgraduate students and medical interns have not received their stipend for the past 15 months. We are doctors only for namesake. But we are treated worse than the daily-wage workers."

The government used to pay a stipend to interns for the past several years. But it became an issue in 2016 when an auditor appointed by the government of Karnataka objected to payment of stipend to students of two private medical colleges - JJM, Davangere and KMC, Mangaluru, which are attached with Chigateri and Wenlock district hospitals respectively, she said.

Following the request by medical interns, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government resumed paying stipends to the PG students and interns of the aforementioned colleges. Directorate of Medical Education (DME) continued to release money towards payment of stipend to interns till February 2019. However, the then Principal Secretary of DME, Manjula, issued an order stating that students of JJM Medical College, selected under government quota, for 2017-18 and 2018-19 batches shall be given a stipend from Aarogya Raksha Samiti (ARS) account of the district general hospital, she added.

But the hospital could not pay as it did not have adequate money to pay a stipend to students. Since March 2019, there is no stipend for medical interns and PG students. This despite, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa instructing the DME to clear the pending dues of interns and PG students at the earliest, the PG student said.

"We have been working round the clock for the past 15 months without stipend. We have taken loans from banks to pay college and hostel fees. We depend on stipend which is rightfully ours. All our pleas for stipend have gone unheard," she lamented.