Protesting doctors baton charged by police

LUCKNOW - At least five doctors were injured when Uttar Pradesh police Monday wielded baton and used water canons on intern doctors here protesting state government’s failure to augment their monthly allowance, officials said.

For last several months, intern doctors of the state have been staging protests and demonstrations to press their demand for a hike in their monthly allowance of Rs. 1,950.

“Intern doctors of other states get at least 5-6 times of what an intern gets in Uttar Pradesh. We have been receiving the same allowance for over last 10 years. It’s causing harassment of the interns and we want a hike,” Anshuman Kumar, a member of the Joint Action Committee of Interns, told reporters here.

According to police, force was used against the doctors after they violated the terms of holding a peaceful demonstration and forced their way through barriers to disrupt the vehicular movement near the Shaheed Smarak here.

After several hours of protest, the demonstration was called off after the district authorities, on behalf of the state government, assured them to look into their demands.

“Within seven days the matter will be sorted out. The government is quite serious over the issue,” Lucknow District Magistrate Anil Kumar Sagar told reporters.

Meanwhile, the joint action committee has threatened to carry out a state-wide agitation if the government failed to sort out the matter within the stipulated time.