Srinagar, Aug 31: Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo on Monday said the demand of MBBS interns for an increase in their monthly stipend was genuine and that the government had already initiated the process for considering the hike.

Talking to reporters, Itoo said the government had met representatives of the interns and subsequently processed their demand.
“We have met them. After meeting them, we have processed their file. The file has been sent to the Finance Department for the financial implications. It is under process,” the Health Minister said.
Sakina Itoo said the government was working on the demand and urged the interns not to resort to a strike while the proposal was being examined.
“There is no need for them to go on strike,” she said, maintaining that the government was considering their demand.
The Health Minister described the demand for an increase in the stipend as genuine, while indicating that a final decision would have financial implications for the government and therefore required examination by the Finance Department.
The statement comes as MBBS and BDS interns across Jammu and Kashmir have been holding peaceful protests over the long-pending demand for revision of their internship stipend.
The interns have been demanding an increase in the monthly stipend to ₹30,000 and have maintained that the demand concerns interns across medical institutions in the Union Territory.
The Minister’s statement indicates that the proposal has moved beyond the Health and Medical Education Department and is presently under consideration in the Finance Department for assessment of its financial implications.