SRINAGAR — Medical interns in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday called off their nine-day old strike after Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Ittoo assured them of a decision on the stipend hike within 30 days.
The deadlock between the interns and the government was broken this evening in a meeting between the protesting students and the minister at the Civil Secretariat here.
It was decided that the hike would be decided on the recommendations of the Stipend Enhancement Committee formed in June 2023, according to the minutes of the meeting.
The interns said the call-off was taken in good faith and in the interest of uninterrupted patient care and academic activities at the hospital.
They, however, asserted that the decision amounts only to a temporary suspension of the strike and not a withdrawal of their demand.
Interns at government-run medical and dental colleges went on a strike on August 31 after the government failed to respond to their demand for hiking the stipend from Rs 12,300 to Rs 30,000 a month.
A 48-hour hunger strike began on Monday over the demand. — (PTI)