MBBS and BDS interns across medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir launched an indefinite strike on Monday over what they describe as an inadequate monthly stipend, staging dharnas in Jammu as part of their protest and demanding an increase from the current Rs 12,300 to Rs 30,000. The interns said their stipend has remained unchanged for nearly seven years despite repeated representations and protests raised with authorities over the issue. Dr Shahnawaz, one of the protesting interns, said MBBS and BDS interns across the union territory had joined the strike in support of the long-pending demand for a stipend revision.

He noted that the current stipend of Rs 12,300 has stayed static for seven years, even as interns in several other Indian states now receive considerably higher compensation, ranging between Rs 25,000 and Rs 45,000 for comparable work. "We are performing the same duties, including 24-hour and night shifts and rural postings, but are being paid only around Rs 400 a day," he said, highlighting the disparity between the workload shouldered by J-K interns and their counterparts elsewhere in the country.

According to Dr Shahnawaz, interns in various other states currently receive stipends ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 45,000 or more, a gap that protesting interns argue has become increasingly untenable given the demanding nature of their responsibilities. "We are demanding that our stipend be increased to Rs 30,000," he said, framing the figure as a reasonable benchmark in line with what interns receive in other parts of India performing similar clinical duties.

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The protesting interns further argued that the existing stipend has failed to keep pace with inflation and the rising cost of living, compounding the financial strain faced by medical trainees who are often required to dedicate long hours to hospital duties while still completing their mandatory internship training. Dr Shahnawaz noted that interns are frequently among the first medical personnel to attend to patients arriving in hospital emergency departments, in addition to assisting senior doctors across outpatient departments (OPDs), inpatient wards, medical procedures, and various other essential hospital services.

Despite shouldering this substantial workload and contributing significantly to the functioning of government medical colleges and their affiliated hospitals, interns say they continue to receive only Rs 12,300 a month, a figure they argue no longer reflects the realities of either their responsibilities or the broader economic conditions across the region. The indefinite nature of the strike suggests that protesting interns intend to maintain pressure on authorities until concrete steps are taken to address their stipend demands, though it remains unclear how the disruption may affect patient services at the medical colleges and hospitals involved in the coming days.

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