Interns issue 15-day ultimatum for pay hike

Setting a 15-day ultimatum for the government to increase their allowance, intern doctors today threatened of non-stop strike if the demand is not fulfilled.  

They have announced the ultimatum at a human chain organised by Intern Doctors Association (IDA) in front of the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka, reports Bangla daily Prothom Alo.

As part of their demonstration, the interns also observed a three-hour work abstention from 10:00am at different hospitals across the country, the daily said.

If the government fails to increase their allowance to Tk 20,000 within the stipulated time then the interns will go for a non-stop strike, Subrata Nag, a spokesperson for the agitating interns of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), said.

The doctors have been receiving Tk 10,000 as allowance since 2009, the daily reports.  

The IDA leaders claimed that 4,000 intern doctors of public hospitals and 3,000 of the private were united in the current agitation movement.