Mirwaiz Umar Farooq urges J&K govt to engage striking medical interns, resolve their stipend issues

Srinagar, Sep 5 (SocialNews.XYZ) Senior religious leader and chief cleric, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, on Saturday urged the Jammu and Kashmir government to engage the medical interns presently on a strike, in talks and resolve their problems.

Taking to social media platform X on Saturday, Mirwaiz Umar said, “The concerns raised by MBBS & BDS interns across J&K deserve serious and urgent consideration. A stipend of Rs 12,300 is clearly inadequate for young doctors working long hours and carrying significant clinical responsibilities.

“With a government-constituted committee having already recommended an enhancement, the prolonged delay is difficult to justify.

“The administration should engage with the interns, address their genuine demand fairly and expeditiously, and ensure that patient care is not disrupted.”

Medical interns are at present on a strike in J&K demanding enhancement of their monthly stipend from Rs 12,300 to Rs 30,000. The stipend of medical interns has remained unchanged since 2019.

J&K Health and Education Minister, Sakina Itoo, said on Friday that the file regarding enhancement of their stipend was under active consideration of the finance department and there is no reason for the medical interns to continue their strike.

The deadlock between the J&K government and the medical fraternity deepened on Saturday as MBBS and BDS interns from various institutions have announced the continuation of their ongoing strike. The decision comes in the wake of high-level discussions held on September 4, 2026, where the government proposed a 30-day administrative timeline for the long-pending revision of their internship stipend.

The protests erupted recently as hundreds of interns across government medical colleges, including GMC Srinagar, GMC Baramulla, and the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) Bemina, took to the streets.

Chanting slogans of “equal work and equal pay,” the protesting doctors demanded an immediate hike in their monthly stipend from Rs 12,300 to Rs 30,000, citing severe inflation and seven years of administrative stagnation that has left their allowance at roughly Rs 400 per day.

In contrast, they pointed out that counterparts in other states and UTs receive between Rs 25,000 and Rs 45,000 per month for identical clinical duties spanning 80 to 90 hours a week, 24-hour shifts, and mandatory rural postings. The strike notably disrupted routine outpatient department (OPD) services across several tertiary care facilities.

Seeking a resolution, a delegation comprising 12 student and intern representatives held separate rounds of talks with Nasir Aslam Wani, Advisor to the Chief Minister and the Minister for Health & Medical Education, Sakina Itoo yesterday.

During the two-hour meeting, the government conveyed that administrative and financial processes for stipend enhancement had already been initiated. Sakina Itoo acknowledged the demands as genuine given rising living costs, explaining that the proposal had cleared the Health Department and was currently with the Finance Department to assess financial implications.

A tentative deadline of October 3, 2026, was set for the fulfillment of the demand, alongside an acknowledgment of concerns regarding the loss of academic days and patient care.

The striking interns have said unless an announcement is made by the government that their stipend is being raised, the strike would continue.

Senior doctors in J&K have supported the strike of the medical trainees. In addition to attending to patients in OPDs, in hospital patients, emergencies and operation theatres, the interns form an important part of the UT’s healthcare delivery system.

Source: IANS