COVID-19: Gujarat intern doctors continue their protest for stipend hike, allowance
Dec 17, 2020
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], December 17 : Intern doctors of the various government hospitals in Gujarat continue to stage their protest on Wednesday, demanding a hike in their monthly stipend and incentives for working extra hours.
During the protest, one of the demonstrators said that they should also be free from the bond where they want to work in government hospitals for a specific time period.
"Around 2,000 intern doctors from government medical colleges and GMREs medical colleges are protesting. We are handling both COVID and non-COVID patients. Our stipend is very low in Gujarat. Some states have increased the stipend. Gujarat stands on 15th spot," he said.
Holding placards, interns sitting on dharna outside their hospitals asked the state government to raise their stipend from 13,000 to Rs 20,000.
"Since we are doing COVID duties, we should be free from the bond where we have to work in government hospitals for a specific time period. We should also get incentives for spending extra hours in hospitals. Our demand is to increase our stipend from 13,000 to Rs 20,000. Today (Wednesday) is the third day of our protest. The government should meet all our demands," another protestor said.
