With not much response from the State government over non-payment of monthly stipend, 54 house surgeons from Kasturba Medical College, serving at Government Wenlock Hosptial, Lady Goschen and primary health centres staged a protest near the casualty of the Wenlock Hospital on Tuesday.

It has been over 11 months that the 54 house surgeons, who have studied MBBS under the government quota, have not received their stipend. They have to get a monthly stipend of ₹20,000 during their one year internship at the government hospital.

Third year

This has been the third year in succession that payment of stipend has been delayed. The Medical Education Department paid the stipend till March 2019 and asked the Health and Family Welfare Department, under which the two government hospitals fall, to pay for the forthcoming months.

The Health and Family Welfare Department asked Wenlock Hospital to pay the amount from the Arogya Raksha Samiti funds of the hospital. Wenlock Hospital Superintendent H.S. Rajeshwaridevi said the funds in the ARS account were not enough to pay the stipend.

House surgeon Chirantan Suhird, who is president of the Council, said they submitted memoranda, including to the then Medical Education Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan, Health and Family Minister B. Sriramulu and Dean of Kastuba Medical College M. Venkataraya Prabhu, and waited for a long time for resolution. “As we have not seen action, we are forced to protest. The delay is hitting us hard,” he said.