A group of 803 medical interns at BMC medical colleges have demanded immediate disbursement of their increased stipend and warned that they will go on strike if their demands are not met promptly.
While their peers at state-run medical colleges have been receiving increased stipends since February, representatives of the Association of Student Medical Interns (ASMI) claim that the civic body is using the code of conduct and the Lok Sabha election as excuses to further delay the disbursement of the already approved stipend.
“On February 27, the government passed a resolution to raise the stipend for medical interns. Given that state-run medical colleges have already implemented this resolution, why have we been left out?" questioned Dr Zeeshan Bagwan, a member of ASMI. He added that due to either the BMC's negligence or an oversight of the government's decision, medical interns have yet to receive the increased stipend.
ASMI emphasised that for the GR to be implemented, the BMC must issue a corporate resolution. However, the BMC has yet to take any action even after two-and-a-half months.
The ASMI first reached out to the deans on March 1, requesting the implementation of the GR in BMC-governed medical colleges. A member of ASMI mentioned that they have been diligently following up with all the officials concerned. Dr Ninad Pawar, president of ASMI, said, “We had a meeting with the director recently and also met the additional municipal commissioner on May 14. They have asked us to wait due to the ongoing elections.”
In response, Dr Neelam Andrade, Director of BMC Medical Colleges, told FPJ, “The proposal was submitted on May 13, during the Code of Conduct period, which prevents its implementation. Students need to understand why this GR has not been implemented yet. Our file has already been forwarded for senior authority's sanction, and all deans of medical colleges have put forth a common proposal. The interns will receive arrears from February. I urge everyone to be patient. Implementation will be completed within a month, but not before June 4, as that would violate the code of conduct. If the code of conduct had not been in place, this would have been resolved by April.”
