Uttarakhand government approved to increase the stipend of interns in medical colleges from monthly Rs. 7000 to Rs. 17000, officials said on Sunday.
As per reports, he approval to the increase in stipend was provided by chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami.
Dhami said doctors and paramedic staff have provided valuable services during the epidemic and to lessen its impact on the state.
The decision followed earlier protests by interns and the Uttarakhand high court directing the state government to consider increasing the stipend of the interns.
The HC directed state health secretary Amit Negi to consider the possibility of increasing the stipend being paid to the intern doctors on July 7.
The HC order stated, "For, on the one hand, according to Amit Negi, it is difficult to attract the doctors to the state, yet, on the other hand, the stipend being paid to the intern doctors is too low as compared to the other states. Therefore, the state government should consider the possibility of increasing the stipend of intern doctors within the state."
The issue of increasing the stipend of interns was raised by advocate Abhijay Negi, the counsel of one of the petitioners in the bunch of PILs filed in the HC on the Covid-19 situation in the state.
Dr Arun Kumar, a junior doctor said, only Rs. 7500 as a stipend was being given to the junior doctors in the state for the last 12 years, whereas the Central government gives a stipend of Rs. 23,000 to the junior doctors interning in the hospitals.
