MBBS interns in Punjab seek increase in stipend from Rs 15K to Rs 30K

Neha Saini

Amritsar, July 9

The MBBS interns of four government medical and several semi-government colleges today demand a hike in stipend from Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,070 (on a par with interns of the central institutes).

The medical students from Faridkot, Amritsar, Patiala and several other colleges today submitted a memorandum to Dr Gurpreet Kaur, wife of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in this regard. “We had raised the issue with Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh. We were told that this matter would be taken up after the Lok Sabha poll. Now, nobody is ready to lend an ear to us,” said Dr Utkarsh Goyal, MBBS intern at the GMC, Patiala.

There are 250 MBBS interns at the GMC – Amritsar, 125 in Faridkot and 225 in Patiala, while Ambedkar State Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS-Mohali) has recently started a batch.

In 2020, the government had increased the stipend from Rs 9,000 to Rs 15,000.

Dr Saurabh Kansal, MBBS intern at Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot, said, “A MBBS student pays Rs 7 lakh to Rs 8 lakh fee at a government college in Punjab, which is increased by 5 per cent every year. Sometimes, we work over 12 hours, including the mandatory eight-hour night shift. If the fee is hiked every year, then stipend should also be increased annually.”

The interns from Government Medical College, Amritsar, which has the maximum student strength, have started an online campaign.

“The MBBS interns in neighbouring states get stipend between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000. The Punjab Government, which claims to follow ‘Delhi Model’ in health and education, should know that the Delhi Government is giving Rs 30,000 stipend to the interns,” said Dr Rohtash Garg, an intern at Government Medical College, Amritsar.