JAMMU, May 15: National president of NSUI Neeraj Kundan wrote a letter to the LG Manoj Sinha for increase in the stipends of medical interns of Jammu and Kashmir, UT.
In his letter to the LG, Neeraj Kundan highlighted the demand of increase in the stipends of the much ignored and underpaid front-line workers and talked about their importance and how they are equally putting their lives at risk in this pandemic.
Neeraj kundan wrote, “As per the notice regarding incentive boost to the senior residents, junior residents, sanitation staff and paramedics, and even the final year students was recently released by the government. The interns were left out from this incentive boost. The interns of J&K UT much like any other postgraduates and registrars work as front-line workers in COVID wards and screening sections but are highly underpaid as compared to other UTS (as they are given only Rs.12,000/month in govt. college and Rs. 6000/month in ASCOMS) whereas stipend received by interns in other UTS
DELHI- Rs. 23,500/month
CHANDIGARH-Rs.18,000/month.
He further said that,
the Interns who work in the tertiary care centers in J&K UT and fully dedicated COVID hospitals are also working in O2 plants and night shifts just to make sure that any glitch of O2 crisis would be immediately notified to the concerned authorities. Hence, it would be completely unjustified to ignore the contribution of interns in this ongoing pandemic.
Kundan further said, If that is not enough, he
would also like to state that around 50-60 interns have tested positive for Covid-19 while doing their duties in various departments. The risk these interns are exposing themselves to is clearly visible while working in this ongoing pandemic while being underpaid.
Kundan also wrote to the LG that interns in other States/UTs have received a raise in their stipend but not the interns in J&K, which is a clear injustice to these interns.
Neeraj Kundan demands the
increase in the stipend of the interns to at least Rs.22,000/month, provide health insurance to all the interns working in GMC Jammu, GMC Srinagar, ASCOMS, SKIMS, and other hospitals in J&K UT. Kundan said in letter to the LG that, This incentive will boost the morale of the interns as they are working equal to that of Postgraduates in the hospital & with full enthusiasm and dedication to fight against this global pandemic.
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