After MBBS interns, veterinary students take to streets across IIOJK
Srinagar: Veterinary students in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Monday staged a peaceful protest over the long-pending demand for enhancement of their internship stipend, days after MBBS and BDS interns intensified their own agitation over stipend revision.
The Jammu and Kashmir Veterinary Students Association (JKVSA) organized the protest and has been seeking a stipend revision for nearly three years.
According to students, at both universities; SKUAST-Jammu and SKUAST-Kashmir, they were being paid Rs 6,000 per month for six months and Rs 9,000 per month for the remaining six months. They said a formal proposal for revision of the stipend had remained pending with the Finance Department since 2023 despite repeated follow-ups.
The students raised voice against discrimination saying that the existing allowance was substantially lower in IIOJK than that being paid to veterinary students across India.
The comparison circulated by JKVSA showed monthly stipends of Rs 23,500 at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Banaras Hindu University and Kamdhenu University, Rs 22,000 at GADVASU, Rs 20,000 at WBUAFS, Rs 17,000 at LUVAS and KVASU, and Rs 14,000 at RAJUVAS.
Other institutions listed included DUVASU, Mathura, at Rs 12,000 and TANUVAS at Rs 11,000.
Against this, students at SKUAST-Jammu and SKUAST-Kashmir were shown receiving Rs 6,000 for six months and Rs 9,000 for the remaining six months, according to the association’s figures.
JKVSA President, Saqlain Rashid said the disparity had persisted despite the nature of veterinary internships, which involve clinical training, field work and emergency duties.
The students maintained that they were not seeking preferential treatment but a fair and reasonable internship allowance comparable with what veterinary interns receive at Indian institutions.
The development adds another layer to the growing agitation among students and interns in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, with MBBS and BDS interns already intensifying their protest and announcing stronger measures over their own demand for revision of internship stipends.
