Resident doctors, who have escalated their protest for revision in their stipend, staging a demonstration in Hubballi on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: KIRAN BAKALE
Resident doctors, who have escalated their protest for revision in their stipend by staying away from attending to their duties in medical colleges and hospitals, staged a huge protest in Hubballi on Tuesday.
The resident doctors of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) gathered at the landmark Kittur Chennamma Circle in Hubballi and staged a demonstration to highlight their demand for stipend revision.
The protest came in response to a call given by the Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) representing resident doctors (interns, postgraduates, super specialty residents and senior residents) from all government medical colleges for a State-wide agitation over the long-pending issue of revision of stipend for junior doctors.
The grouse of the resident doctors is that they are being paid 50% of what is being paid to resident doctors in other States and it fails to meet their living cost, academic expenses and family needs at a time when inflation has affected every sector badly.
โDespite providing essential services and working long hours, our stipend remains unchanged and insufficient. And, also, fees for medical courses are among the highest in Karnataka when compared to other States,โ they said in a memorandum.
The protesting resident doctors said that despite repeated memoranda, the State government has failed to look into the issue of stipend hike and has continued to ignore their rightful demand.
President of Junior Doctors Association of Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Suhas S.T. and other office-bearers, including Harishitha S., Adarsha V., Kedarnath S., Rakshith M.C., Ganesh K.V., Chidanand, and others led the protest.
The protesting junior doctors raised slogans questioning the silence of the State government and holding placards that mocked the governmentโs apathy. Then, they marched to the Mini Vidhana Soudha where they submitted the memorandum, addressed to the Chief Minister, to the taluk officials.
