Medical Interns in Private Colleges Protest, Management Resorts to Threats
House surgeons, PG interns allege exploitation, illegal stipend cuts, and intimidation at private hospitals
Hyderabad: With the long-standing issue of non-payment of stipends to house surgeons (undergraduate interns) and postgraduate interns, these medical personnel who take up the most work at the hospitals, have started protesting, only to be met with threats from management.
On Monday, UG and PG interns from four private colleges in the state announced strikes and held protests in their respective hospital campuses. In one of the colleges, the dean threatened to extend the internships for the duration they hold the strikes.
"We have not been paid a single penny since we joined two months back," said one House Surgeon from Mahavir General Hospital. "We had met the dean, Dr I.B. Raju, two weeks back, where he had promised to look into the matter. Later, an accounts official came and informed us that we will be paid only Rs 2,000. As per NMC guidelines, we are eligible for stipends on par with government hospital interns, i.e. up to Rs 25,000 per month," he added.
While the previous batch of undergraduates wasn't paid anything at all, the PG interns are asked to pay back the amount in cash. "We are paid Rs 55,000 in our bank accounts and later asked to repay to the college back in cash, an amount up to Rs 45,000. So what we get is mere Rs 10,000. Today, the dean called us and guilt-trapped us by saying whether we have come to the college to work or to protest, and that we should not expect a private college to pay any stipends at all," a PG intern said.
"The dean once again said he would look into the matter but we are not at all satisfied. The college has increased the fees three times the usual this year for B Category seats (certain specialties). After this, all we get is a mere Rs 10,000," another PG intern said.
The college also doesn't pay the caution money back to the students after they finish their degrees accounting it for the food that students get for free.
Last week, interns of two other medical colleges have protested for non-payment of stipends. In November 2024, NMC had issued show cause notices to 25 colleges in the state, including government and private, for not sharing information regarding the stipends paid.