VIMSAR medical students take out march, to launch cease-work strike over pending stipend from Mar 14

The medical students, including the PG students, junior doctors and resident doctors of Veer Surendra Sai Institute Of Medical Science And Research (VIMSAR) at Burla in Sambalpur, took out a march on Wednesday alleging non-payment of stipend and lack of facilities in the institute.

They demanded action against the Dean alleging her of turning a deaf ear to their demands.

“There are so many problems here in our college. Despite being the oldest college in Western Odisha, it is still lagging behind many others. There is no MRI scanner in hospital. The lone CT scanner breaks down regularly. The superspeciality building, OT and ICU complex are yet to start despite their completion months back. It forces us to refer patients to other hospitals,” alleged a protesting doctor.

“Despite being a research institute, there are no facilities for medical research. The college is also not paying us monthly stipend on time. It either gets late or does not come at all. PG students have not received their stipend for the last six months. The authorities are not student friendly at all. They are not at all listening to our demands. They do not listen to any matter related to scholarship or study loan of students,” alleged another protesting student.

The medical students have threatened to go on a cease-work strike from tomorrow, March 14.

Notably, the junior doctors at the institute had warned on March 8 to go on a cease-work strike over pending stipend and other irregularities.

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As per reports, the doctors gheraoed the institute Dean, Professor Jayashree Dora on March 7 to press for their demands. But despite a long discussion, the deadlock continued. They wore black badges on their hands and blamed the Dean for their plight.