In the dim corridors of government hospitals across Jammu and Kashmir, young doctors are running on empty. They stand for 36-hour continuous shifts, managing overflowing OPDs, emergency wards, and night duties that leave little room for rest or even basic human needs. For this relentless labor, the very backbone of public healthcare in the region they are paid roughly ₹400 a day. A monthly stipend of just ₹12,300.
It’s not fair, I mean our government should think that we are their own doctors, it doesn’t feel good that our doctors are coming out onto the streets. So, our health, it’s very shameful for our authorities that they are not paying attention to us. And even more shameful is that we have been on strike for four days and no one has come to talk to us here. Nobody pays heed to us right now. We will only trust one thing: that the order comes in front of us and we will resume our duties. What began as a quiet demand has now become a determined, peaceful protest entering its fourth consecutive day. MBBS and BDS interns from every Government Medical College in Jammu and Kashmir, and from SKIMS Bemina, have taken to the streets and hospital premises. Related to that, we submitted our file to the finance department. In these three years, we have met Sakina Madam multiple times. Our CIS, our batch, everyone has gone. But we are not getting any work at the ground level. We are just being assured that your file is under processing. No government official has come to us yet. We are still on strike for this reason. Now, this strike that we are on is an indefinite strike. The issue is not new. The recommendation was acknowledged in the Legislative Assembly. The Health Department processed the proposal and sent it to the Finance Department. There it has remained tangled in queries, requests for more information, and bureaucratic delay. Still, nothing moved. She acknowledged the rising cost of living and the need for a hike yet added that there was no need for them to go on strike, as it affects patient care. We skip our diets and we don’t even give preference to our health. Political voices have begun to stand with them. The People’s Democratic Party and the Congress have extended support. Former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and her daughter Iltija Mufti visited Government Medical College Srinagar and JVC Hospital in Bemina to express solidarity. What the young doctors want is not complicated.
But due to things like dearness and inflation, a committee was made for us in 2025. Because our voice is not being heard, so, sir, now we are forced. They seek the immediate issuance of a government order revising the stipend, uniform implementation across all government medical colleges in Jammu and Kashmir, and a proper mechanism for periodic revision so that the amount does not freeze again for another seven years.
Dr Tassaduk said “This is just common sense that given the way we work, our workload in a week is around 80 to 90 hours. Sometimes we don’t even eat, our shifts last 30 to 35+ hours, and what do we get? 400 rupees a day, 410 rupees a day. If we talk about UP, recently within days the stipend there rose to around 12,000 to 25,000, so the government here can also do that, but I don’t know why they are doing it, we don’t know the reason. So we are on an indefinite strike, we will not call off this strike until we get an order with immediate effect in which it is mentioned that our stipend has been hiked to around 12,300 to 30,000 rupees. we are not relying on false assurances and false hopes. Their demand is simple, urgent, and long overdue: raise the internship stipend immediately to ₹30,000 a month. They have warned that if the government continues to delay, they will begin an indefinite hunger strike from September 5. Dr Tania said “Sir, the stipend we are given for the internship was revised in 2019. It was set at 12,300 for us. That committee said that we will be given an internship stipend of 25,000 plus. We will not get up from here until we are given our right, until 30,000 is given to us.“ In other parts of the country, medical interns routinely receive up-to ₹45,000 a month but in Kashmir, the same young professionals who keep emergency departments running through the night and day are expected to survive on less than half of that amount. On June 27, 2023, the Health and Medical Education Department formed a committee through Government Order No. 538-JK(HME) (2023) specifically to examine the stipend. That committee recommended raising it to ₹25,000. In October 2024, the interns met Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and laid out their case. We basically work alongside the PGs, interns—meaning PGs, our SRs, HODs—and our work is in emergency and casualty OPD, where we regularly work for 24 to 36 hours. And even then, we are getting merely 400 rupees per day, and it is very shameful for the government.
Jammu Kashmir Health Minister Sakina Ittoo says the matter was under review and that the Finance Department was examining the financial implications. DR Amanjot Singh said “We work at par with a doctor.
