Demanding stipend hike, 850 MBBS interns threaten to go on strike in Bihar

As per a recent media report in the Hindustan Times, the MBBS doctors of Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) have already protested on the college campus on Saturday demanding an increase in stipend. Seeking support from their batchmates of 6 other medical colleges, NMCH medicos made every possible effort to air their grievances with maximum support. The effect of the protest has been evident at the Sri Krishna Medical College Hospital in Muzaffarpur and the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital in Laheriasarai in Darbhanga on Saturday.

Gautam Kumar, a 2016-batch medico of NMCH told Hindustan Times, "We will try and meet the additional chief secretary (health), Pratyaya Amrit, tomorrow (Monday). Seeing his response, we will decide the date of our strike if the government doesn't heed our demands." He also informed that the NMCH protest has also secured support from the MBBS final year medicos of other state-run medical colleges, including the Patna Medical College Hospital, Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, Gaya, Vardhaman Institute of Medical Science, Pawapuri (Nalanda) and Government Medical College, Bettiah.

NMCH has been converted into a 500 bedded COVID dedicated Hospital similar to IGIMS, an autonomous institute of the state government on the pattern of AIIMS. However, there is a clear difference in the amount of stipend of the two institutions. Dr. Gautam pointed out that the monthly stipend of IGIMS interns has been increased to Rs 26,300. Moreover, Rs 1,000 incentive per 8-hour shift for Covid-19 duty has also been approved on May 21.

"With an average of eight days of Covid-19 duty in a month, their consolidated stipend would go up to Rs 34,000 (approx.), while we will get a pittance of Rs 15,000 monthly, with no incentive for Covid duty", he further added.

Alleging that the government has taken no efforts to revise their stipend structure since 2017 when it was last revised from Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000, another doctor, Anuj Kumar told the daily, " The stipend of junior doctors, pursuing post-graduation (PG), was increased last year, but that of MBBS interns has not been increased since 2016, though the government is committed to increasing it every three years."

Moreover, the doctors also requested to count their COVID duty as part of their one-year compulsory internship program so that they can be eligible to appear NEET for PG Courses.

"We need to complete 365 days of internship before we can appear for the NEET entrance test for the PG program. The MBBS final year medicos at Patna's IGIMS and in other states have completed their exam and joined as interns, but we haven't. If the government delays our exams, our internship period will be affected, which will make us ineligible to appear in the NEET entrance test next year. So, our Covid duty should be counted as an internship," added Dr Anuj.

The medicos also pointed out that on one hand, the Bihar government deferred the MBBS final exams even after it started on April 17th citing the safety of students as the reason, on the other hand, the same government employed them on COVID duties immediately. The medicos also demanded that all the intern doctors serving at COVID wards under the constant risk of exposure to the disease must get insurance cover from the authorities, reports the daily.