Srinagar: The Congress and CPI(M) joined the opposition PDP in supporting the medical interns in Jammu and Kashmir who struck work for the fourth consecutive day on Thursday, demanding enhanced stipends and better working conditions.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ghulam Ahmad Mir met the protesting interns at Government Medical College Anantnag.
Speaking to reporters, Mir said their demands were genuine.
“When it comes to government support to doctors, Jammu and Kashmir is at the lowest level. The demands of medical interns are genuine. Government gave them assurances in the past, but nothing has been done so far,” he said.
Mir urged Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to address the demands.
“They are unable to sustain themselves at such a meagre stipend. It is a humane issue and needs to be resolved. I appeal to the chief minister to take a call and address their issue in the best possible way,” he said.
Mir said if the issue is not resolved, the Congress would talk to other parties and demand answers from the government in the Assembly Session that would begin on September 21.
PDP leader Iltija Mufti also joined the striking interns at GMC Anantnag.
PDP was the first political party to extend its support.
Speaking to reporters, Iltija said it was shameful that the government has money to raise perks and salaries of ministers and MLAs, and to buy new vehicles, but not a dime for hard-working medical interns.
“They have been on strike for four days now; their demands are entirely legitimate. Their current monthly stipend is a mere Rs 12,300, which works out to just Rs 400 a day. In this day and age, even a labourer earns Rs 800 a day,” she said.
In an ultimatum to the government, the PDP leader asked it to provide a date by which the issue would be resolved.
“I want to tell the government: give them a date as soon as possible. We are issuing an ultimatum. If you do not provide a date, we will all join them in an indefinite strike and ensure their stipends are raised,” she added.
CPI(M) leader and Kulgam MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami extended his support to the protest and urged the government to revise the interns’ monthly stipend immediately.
Tarigami said the demand was neither excessive nor unreasonable, but a fair compensation for young doctors who are often the first to attend to patients in emergency wards and who routinely work shifts stretching to 24 or even 36 hours.
“These are young men and women who have spent years training to serve the sick. Today, they stand on the roads instead of inside hospitals, because the system has failed to value their labour,” he said.
A stipend of Rs 12,300 a month, unchanged since 2019, “insults” the effort these interns put in every single day, he added.
