Despite ministry’s order, PGIMER Chandigarh sitting on nursing students’ revised stipend
Nursing students get a ₹500 stipend from the first year of the course; this is to be hiked to ₹13,150 during their six-month internship in the fourth (final) year
Nearly a year after the central government ordered to revise the internship stipend of nursing students from ₹500 to ₹13,150, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has yet to revise the stipend of students at its National Institute of Nursing Education (NINE).
Meanwhile, students continue to serve the hospital as full-time nursing staff. Worse, even the ₹500 stipend has not been disbursed for the past three months, a repeat occurrence, they allege.
The Union ministry of health and family welfare, in July 2022, had ordered the revision of the stipend for nursing interns at nursing colleges associated with central government hospitals.
Nursing students get a ₹500 stipend from the first year of the course. This is to be hiked to ₹13,150 during their six-month internship in the fourth (final) year.
Students who graduated in the 2022 batch have also reported non-receipt of their stipend for two months, totaling ₹2,56,500 for 95 nursing students.
Problems galore, rue students
The BSc Nursing students complained that restrictions had been imposed on their choice of clothing at the hostel and if they violated the rules, the security guards took their pictures and reported them to the hostel warden and principal.
Recently, 36 boarding students of NINE were grounded for disobeying orders to attend the 100th episode of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat programme on April 30. The students – 28 from third year and eight from first year– were barred from stepping outside the hostel for a week.
Students also complained that even though they were entitled to five annual leaves, they had to approach multiple teachers and make several rounds to secure permission for even one-day leave. Even when the leave is allowed, they are forced to fulfil compensatory duties.
A third-year student, requesting anonymity, alleged that while she was sick at home and applied for leave, her teacher instructed her to submit the leave application in person, adding that even her parents’ appeals were disregarded.
When contacted, NINE principal Dr Sukhpal Kaur, without giving details, said she had forwarded the students’ concerns to the PGIMER deputy director of administration, Kumar Gaurav Dhawan. The latter remained unavailable for a comment.
