Students of the capital’s Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College (ShSMC) have held a protest march as part of an indefinite work stoppage over a six-point demand. The programme was held at about 10:30am on Monday (8 June). A protest march set off from in front of the college’s academic building, circled key campus roads and ended in front of the hospital building, followed by a brief rally. Slogans heard during the protest included “We won’t accept the insult of doctors,” “There’s no place for discrimination in my golden Bengal,” “The interns’ work stoppage continues,” and “Why do interns have longer working hours — we demand an answer.”
At the rally, final-year medical student Md Mahfuzur Rahman presented the six-point demand, saying medical students and doctors would not return home until the demands were met. Intern doctors across the country began a work stoppage on Sunday over the six-point demand, and medical students have been boycotting classes since the same day. A 12-member delegation of intern doctors was due to meet the health secretary on Monday (8 June). Postgraduate trainee doctors have also begun a work stoppage.
The six-point demand of postgraduate trainees, intern doctors and medical students is: cancellation of the committee’s proposal on the posting policy for FCPS Part-1-passed private trainees; reducing the admission-test fee of Bangladesh Medical University (BMU) and the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons (BCPS) to between 500 and 1,000 taka; fixing interns’ allowance at a minimum of 30,000 taka under the new pay scale and placing trainees in the 9th grade; enacting a health-protection law; raising the entry-age limit for BCS health service to 34 years; and creating a clear salary structure for doctors at private institutions in line with the Labour Act 2006.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report