Mumbai: Medical intern stipend hike to be discussed With Health Minister

Mumbai: The State Health Minister, Dr Deepak Sawant will be holding a meeting with the members of the Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) to discuss stipend issues, a long pending demand of medical interns. The announcement of the date as May 2 brought relief to many medicos who has been making do with a measly Rs 6000 per month, while other state interns have been drawing over Rs. 15,000 for a stipend.

This proposed meeting is an outcome of medical interns holding a peaceful protest across the state demanding a raise in their stipend amount which is less than other states. States giving a higher stipend than Maharashtra include: Karnataka, West Bengal, Delhi.

The Secretary, ASMI revealed that it has taken 5 years to bring the Minister to the table and they are now expecting a positive outcome from this meeting.

“The state health minister has decided to meet us on May 2 to discuss the issue which is the good signal for all the interns who supported us in the peaceful protest,” said Dr Asif Patel, Secretary.

He said that despite Mumbai having the highest GDP, the interns were being paid much less than those in the state of Punjab, West Bengal, Karnataka.

“Compare to medical interns of other states we are under tremendous pressure as the maximum number of patients visits government hospital which we have to handle and we are only less stipend,” Dr Patel said.

A Directorate Medical Education and Research (DMER) official said that a solution needed to be reached, as the issue was becoming a subject of debate, which needed to be addressed by the state's health minister, immediately.

“The issue of increasing the stipend amount of the medical interns is already been raised and discussed with the ministry. We are hoping for a positive output in the meeting,” added the official. "If our demands are not accepted before May 3 we have decided to call for a state-wide strike. This strike will be indefinite.” He added to the FPJ.

Stipends in other states:

1	Uttar Pradesh	Rs. 17,900
2	Karnataka	Rs 19,975
3	West Bengal	Rs 21,000
4	Kerala	Rs 20,000
5	Assam	Rs 20,000
6	Chhattisgarh	Rs 20,000
7	Odisha	Rs 20,000
8	Bihar	Rs 15,000
9	Andhra Pradesh	Rs 13,000
10	Telangana	Rs 13,000
11	Haryana	Rs 11,800
12	Punjab	Rs 9,000
13	Gujarat	Rs 10,700
14	Madhya Pradesh	Rs 8,000
15	Uttarakhand	Rs 7,500
16	Maharashtra	Rs 6,000