Good News for MBBS Medicos in Maharashtra: Cabinet approves Stipend hike by Rs 5000

Nagpur: After a prolonged struggle of 5 years, the demand for hike in stipend for nearly 5000 interns finally sees daylight as the Maharashtra state cabinet has finally given its nod for increasing the stipend amount by 45% to Rs 11000 from Rs 6000 per month.

The increased stipend will be provided to the interns of MBBS, BDS, Ayurveda and Unani with the September payout. The approval has been lauded by the stakeholders even though their demand was to increase the stipend to Rs 15000.

Confirmation to this effect was given by the Vice President of Association of State Medical Interns Maharashtra Dr Nitish Nadkarni, who stated that August 28 is a historic day for all the interns across the state, as the cabinet approved our request of increasing the stipend of intern doctors which was pending since 2015.

The stipend issue has been a bone of contention with the medical interns and the State Government since 2015. The interns who are the undergraduate (UG) degree holders and serve in government medical colleges as part of their curriculum have to work for 12 to 36 hours in shifts. Moreover, there is no provision for weekly off for them. Thus, they have been aggressively demanding for a raise in the stipend amount.

As per the Medical Council of India (MCI) circular, interns are supposed to get 50 per cent of the amount of what residents receive in first-year. However, this was not followed in Maharashtra.

In 2018, medical interns went on an indefinite strike demanding hike in stipend. However, the strike was called off after the State Medical Education Minister Girish Mahajan assured to hike stipend from Rs 6000 to Rs 11,000 within two months.

Also Read: Maharashtra: Medical interns call off strike after assurance of stipend of Rs 11,000

It has been reported that the ministry of medical education had allowed the hike in 2019 but it was stuck with the finance department.

Commenting on the same, Dr Hrushikesh Mankar, president of Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) told TOI, "We had decided to go on strike in June. But medical education minister Girish Mahajan and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar asked us to wait for two months for implementation of stipend hike. We postponed our strike but followed up the issue continuously. Mahajan raised the issue in the cabinet meeting today and we have got relief."

Recently, the Medical Council Of India Board of Governors (MCI BOG) had decided that private medical colleges will also have to pay stipend to its MBBS interns just like their government counterparts.

Also Read: MBBS Interns at Private Medical Colleges to now get Stipend: MCI BOG nod to proposal