Stipend hiked for MBBS interns, PG residents

The State Cabinet on Monday approved hike in stipend ranging between Rs 5,000 to Rs 20,000 per month given to MBBS interns, post-graduate residents and super-speciality post-graduate residents.

Briefing reporters after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister T B Jayachandra said the hike will be applicable to all MBBS interns, PG residents, super-speciality PG resident students working in hospitals attached to autonomous medical colleges. The hike will  come into effect once the government order is issued, Jayachandra said. The hike will be effected in seven slabs (for details see box).  MBBS interns and post-graduate students had boycotted work earlier this month demanding a hike in stipend.

 

They stated that their stipend was last revised in 2011 and was among the lowest in the country. A biodiversity park around Madivala lake, short-term interest free loans and approval for Prohibition of Child Marriage (Karnataka) Rules-2014 were some of other decisions taken by the Cabinet on Monday.

The child marriage prohibition rules makes it mandatory for registration of marriages. The rules are based on the recommendations of a committee headed by retired SC Judge Shivaraj V Patil appointed by the Karnataka HC to prepare an action plan to prevent child marriages in the State.

A biodiversity park around the 272-acre Madivala Lake in Bengaluru South, based on the recommendation of the Karnataka Knowledge Commission, will be taken up at a cost of Rs 24.72 crore. 

The project proposes to enhance the native flora and fauna of the area replete with greenways, butterfly garden, herbal garden and a nature interpretation centre among others.

Short-term interest free loans can be availed up to Rs 50,000 through cooperative banks and societies on the lines of crop loans to meet cattle feed and other maintenance expenditure, Jayachandra said.