Srinagar, Oct 21: Strike has worked for MBBS, BDS interns in J&K.
A day after the interns launched their second round of indefinite strike over the delay in stipend enhancement, a formal order was issued today.
The government order issued on Wednesday has doubled their monthly stipend to Rs 25,000.
The order was issued by Health and Medical Education Department Wednesday evening. The government Order No 747-JK(HME) of 2026, sanctioned an increase of stipend from Rs 12,300 to Rs 25,000 per month for MBBS and BDS interns.
The revised stipend will also be paid to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs).
The enhancement will take effect from October 1, 2026.
The development comes a day after the interns resumed their agitation on October 20.
They had accused the government of failing to honour its written assurance to finalise the matter within 30 days.
Last month, the interns had suspended a nine-day strike, held from August 31 to September 8.
The strike had been called off after the government assured them that the matter would be resolved within 30 days.
However, the deadline passed without any order, trigerring the interns to resume protests and announce an indefinite strike.
On Tuesday, news of a formal order “being prepared” started doing rounds, however, the All-India Medical Students Association maintained that the strike will not be called off till government issues the order.
Between the last agitation and today, weeks of uncertainty over the proposed hike passed.
The interns had insisted that another assurance would not suffice and that only a formal government notification would meet their demand.
The revised stipend represents an increase of Rs 12,700 per month.
The annual payout for interns has increased from Rs 1.476 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for each intern.
The interns had been demanding an increase to Rs 30,000 per month.
They had cited the long period without a revision and rising living costs.
