With stipend pending from 16 months, there is a sense of resentment amongst the PG students and the medical interns, deputed on Covid-19 duty at JJM Medical College in Davangere, Karnataka.
In the video, a girl can be heard saying, "Since February 2019, we have not received out monthly stipends. Ever since then, there hasn't been a concerned authority that we haven't approached or we have not knocked. But justice seems to be far away."
"We have done our duties, we have risked our lives doing Covid-19 duties, eyt our voices are unheard," she further added.
Corona warriors work without stipend
Around 230 students of JJM Medical College - 133 PG students and 97 medical interns -- have not received their stipends for 16 months now.
These front-line heroes, hailed as corona warriors, are denied of their dues despite a written order from Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on December 24 last year. The state government had earlier directed the principal of JJM Medical College, to pay the pending stipend of the medicos which have not been paid to them for over 1.5 years now.
The basic monthly remuneration of a house surgeon is Rs 20,000, while the PG students should receive Rs 30,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 40,000 for the first, second and third year of their service, respectively.
PG students, interns go on indefinite strike
However, the medicos have not yet received any amount of stipend till now. The PG students and the interns of the JJM Medical College and hospital have gone on an indefinite strike, demanding their basic pay.
Meanwhile, the authorities have claimed that they haven't received enough revenue.
Several videos of the protests are doing the rounds on the internet. In another video, a protestor says, "We have decided to fill our stomachs with the false assurances that we have been fed everyday. We are not going to stop our struggle till we get justice."
"This is JJM Medical college Davangere, where doctors r not paid stipend since 16 months and neither the govt nor the college management is sorting out this issue. Pgs n interns protest continues to day five and they are going for hunger strike," wrote a Twitterati.
