MBBS interns protest enters ninth day as Tanvir Sadiq backs demand; government yet to issue formal order
Srinagar, Sep 8, KNT: The protest by MBBS and BDS interns across Jammu and Kashmir entered its ninth day on Tuesday, with National Conference MLA and chief spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq joining Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo in describing the interns’ demand as genuine, while Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has said the issue needs to be addressed.
Sadiq, speaking on the ongoing agitation, also maintained that the interns’ protest was legitimate and that demanding their rights through peaceful protest was part of democratic practice. The remarks came a day after Omar Abdullah said the matter should have been resolved earlier and called for an early resolution.
The dispute centres on the monthly stipend paid to MBBS and BDS interns, currently ₹12,300, with the protesting interns demanding an increase to ₹30,000. The interns began their indefinite strike on August 31 and have since intensified the agitation, including a 48-hour hunger strike that entered its second day on Tuesday. Interns at SKIMS Medical College, Bemina, have also said they will continue the hunger strike until a formal written government order is issued.
The government has acknowledged the demand. Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo said the demand was genuine and that the proposal had been processed by her department and sent to the Finance Department for examination of its financial implications.
The issue, however, predates the current agitation by several years. A committee constituted by the Health and Medical Education Department through Government Order No. 538-JK(HME) of 2023 examined the matter and recommended increasing the stipend from ₹12,300 to ₹25,000 for MBBS and BDS interns. The government told the Legislative Assembly in February 2026 that the recommendation had been examined by the Health Department and submitted to the Finance Department for concurrence.
The Assembly was also informed that the Finance Department had sought additional information and clarifications on multiple occasions. The observations were conveyed to the concerned Government Medical Colleges, which supplied information from time to time, after which the case was examined and sent back to the Finance Department. The government further stated that once Finance concurrence was granted, a formal order would be issued to implement the revised stipend.
This explains the administrative bottleneck currently visible in the record: the Health and Medical Education Department has initiated and processed the proposal, but the proposed expenditure requires examination and concurrence from the Finance Department before the revised stipend can be formally notified.
Under the J&K Transaction of Business Rules, proposals requiring prior financial concurrence have to be referred to the Finance Department, whose views become part of the departmental proposal. The rules also provide that, in the ordinary course, matters can be disposed of under the authority of the Minister-in-charge, subject to the applicable rules and financial requirements.
Omar Abdullah on Monday said the Health Department has to take the first decision on the interns’ demand and that other departments cannot act until that decision is taken. He also said the matter should not have reached the present stage.
The latest indication from the government came on Tuesday when Chief Minister’s Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani said the matter was being actively considered and that Sakina Itoo was personally pursuing it with the concerned authorities. He expressed hope that the issue would be resolved “in the coming hours, not in days.”
The available government record therefore points to a specific decision-making sequence: Health and Medical Education Department processes the proposal, Finance Department examines its financial implications and gives concurrence, Health and Medical Education Department issues the formal order implementing the revised stipend. The February Assembly reply specifically said that formal implementation would follow Finance concurrence.
“What remains unclear from the publicly available record is the present status of the file inside the Finance Department, including whether any fresh clarification has been sought, whether Finance has agreed to the amount proposed by the Health Department, or whether the proposal has been returned for further modification. The government has not publicly disclosed the latest file movement or a date by which a formal order will be issued,” a group of protesting interns told the news agency Kashmir News Trust.
The interns, meanwhile, have rejected further verbal assurances and are continuing their agitation, demanding a written government order on the stipend revision. [KNT]
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