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The much awaited and relief news has come to light for the young doctors and interns who are working day and night to serve the patients in the government medical and dental colleges of Jammu and Kashmir. The Union Territory Administration has taken an official decision to increase the monthly stipend of medical interns by more than double. Under the new government order issued by the Department of Health and Medical Education (H&ME), doctors doing internship will now be paid directly Rs. 12,300 per month instead of just Rs. Monthly stipend of ₹25,000 Will be given. Due to low stipend for a long time, rising inflation and difficult 24-hour emergency duty, the Junior Doctors Association and student organizations were pleading for increase in stipend. This positive step of the government will not only remove the financial worries of the interns, but will also boost the morale of the future doctors serving in the health infrastructure of the Union Territory.
Formal notification and administrative approval in this regard has been issued by the Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Health and Medical Education Department of Jammu and Kashmir Administration. The direct benefit of this new order will be given to the MBBS interns of Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu as well as all the newly established government medical colleges like Baramulla, Anantnag, Rajouri, Kathua and Doda. Additionally, BDS interns of government dental colleges have also been included under the ambit of this enhanced stipend policy. Presently every year hundreds of young students from these institutes undergo a one year compulsory rotatory residential internship after passing their final year MBBS and BDS examinations. Now an amount of ₹ 25,000 will be directly transferred to the accounts of all these interns every month.
After passing the final year of MBBS course, intern doctors are considered the backbone of the hospitals. The most challenging responsibilities like ward rounds, OPD, emergency duty, minor surgery, trauma care and night shifts are on the shoulders of these interns. Many times they have to do duty continuously for 24 to 36 hours without stopping. But despite all this hard work, they were getting only a meager honorarium of ₹12,300 per month, which was much less than that of neighboring states (like Punjab, Haryana or Himachal Pradesh) and central institutions (like AIIMS). Between hostel expenses, book expenses, NEET-PG preparation and inflation in daily food items, this amount was proving to be extremely inadequate for the young doctors. The students had several times drawn the attention of the administration towards this discrepancy through peaceful demonstrations and memorandums, on which the Lieutenant Governor, Administration and Finance Department have now given their final approval.
Increasing the stipend from ₹12,300 to ₹25,000 i.e. by more than 100 per cent was bound to put additional financial burden on the Union Territory exchequer. For this reason, this file was undergoing various technical and administrative reviews for a long time. The Health Department, in collaboration with the Finance Department, prepared its complete financial blueprint and ensured provision of necessary additional funds for this item in the budget of the current financial year. The government has clarified that there will be no fund crunch in payment of increased stipend and principals of all medical colleges have been instructed to prepare bills of interns as per the revised rates and ensure regular payment as soon as possible.
Medical experts and senior doctors believe that this decision will have a far-reaching impact on the health services of Jammu and Kashmir. When a junior doctor gets a respectable honorarium for his basic living, he is free from financial stress and is able to concentrate diligently on treating patients and clinical training. In district hospitals and new medical colleges in remote and hilly districts (like Kishtwar, Poonch, Kupwara and Doda) where there is a shortage of experienced doctors, these young interns emerge as the primary shield of the health system. The increase in stipend will create an environment for young doctors to stay in the new medical colleges and perform their duties with better dedication. Doctors’ organizations and medical students’ associations have expressed gratitude to the administration for this sensitive decision and termed it a major step in the medical education reforms of Jammu and Kashmir.