BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government on Wednesday approved a 50 per cent hike in the monthly stipend of medical interns, prompting junior doctors to call off their three-day-old agitation in Bhopal.
Deputy Chief Minister Rajendra Shukla said Chief Minister Mohan Yadav had approved the proposal to raise the stipend from Rs 14,337 to around Rs 21,000 per month.
The protesting interns had been demanding that their monthly stipend be increased to Rs 30,000, citing the higher amount paid to interns in several other states.
“The students were agitating in support of their demands. Today, their (key) demand has been accepted, and the stipend has been increased by 50 per cent,” Shukla told reporters.
He said the decision followed talks between government representatives and the protesting medical interns. Student groups, including the Junior Doctors Association (JUDA) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, as well as BJP leader Hitesh Bajpai, also participated in the discussions.
The deputy chief minister also announced action against two policemen in connection with the alleged lathicharge and use of water cannons against the protesting interns on Monday. The two personnel have been line-attached, or removed from active duty.
Shukla said no police case would be registered against the protesters.
The interns had been staging their protest near the Kamala Park intersection in Bhopal since Monday. Their agitation had disrupted traffic on the main road near Kilol and Kamala parks.
Junior Doctors Association’s Bhopal unit vice-president Dr Anurag Bhati said the interns were ending their three-day protest after the government accepted their key demand.
Senior resident doctors had also extended support to the agitation. Doctors at Government Gandhi Medical College in Bhopal had announced a boycott of outpatient department services in solidarity with the protesting interns.
The interns said they had been seeking a hike in their stipend for the past three years and pointed out that their counterparts in other states receive around Rs 30,000 per month.