Intern veterinary doctors protest over low stipend at varsity in Ludhiana

Intern veterinary doctors at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) staged a protest on Monday, demanding a hike in their internship stipend. The demonstration was orgainsed by the Veterinary Student Union, which said repeated appeals to the university authorities and government officials had gone unanswered.

“We were left with no other option but to protest after repeated appeals failed to yield any results,” said Dr Kamalpreet.

The Veterinary Student Union expressed dissatisfaction with the “inadequately low” stipend, arguing that it is not in line with inflation and not comparable to what MBBS and BDS interns receive in Punjab. They also highlighted disparities with veterinary universities in other states, including LUVAS (Haryana), RAJUVAS (Rajasthan), and BHU (Varanasi), where interns receive higher monthly stipend.

The union said that on August 3, 2025, its representatives met Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, who had directed officials to schedule a meeting between student representatives and university authorities.

On August 13, 2025, during a telephonic exchange with the Minister’s office, students were informed that the meeting would take place on September 4.

However, on August 18, they learned that the meeting had already been held that same day with university officials present but no student representative of Veterinary Student Union invited.

“We received no prior intimation about this meeting from either the Minister’s office or the university. We were denied the opportunity to present our case. The matter remains unresolved due to this negligence,” said Dr Harnoor Kaur Sandhu, president of the Veterinary Student Union.

The union also expressed regret over any inconvenience caused to patients and hospital administration. However, the students emphasised that their protest was “fair, just, and necessary” for the welfare of veterinary interns and students.