On Doctors' Day, medical interns protest demanding pending stipends in Tripura

Around 100 interns demonstrated inside the Agartala Government Medical College (AGMC) in Tripura demanding immediate payment of their two months' pending stipends on the National Doctors' Day.

They withdrew the movement after Medical Superintendent Dr Debashish Roy assured them that their pending stipends will be paid within a week.

"We do the majority of work in the states main hospital. We work more than 14 hours a day. And we were not paid stipends for two months," one of the protestors said.

"The agitation was withdrawn after we persuaded them that the payments would be made soon. This is only a procedural matter," Roy said.

Officials concerned were asked to to process the bills and the money will be transferred to their bank accounts by next week, he said.

During the internship period of one year, which is a part of the course curriculum, each intern gets Rs 18,000 a month.

The National Doctor's Day is observed on the birth and death anniversary of Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy, who was a physician, a freedom fighter and a former chief minister of West Bengal.