Intern Veterinary Doctors Protest in Ludhiana Over Low Stipend, Demand Fair Compensation

Ludhiana : Intern Veterinary Doctors Protest Over Low Stipend at University in Ludhiana
Veterinary Student Union says stipend is not in line with inflation

Intern veterinary doctors at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) in Ludhiana staged a protest on Monday demanding a hike in their internship stipend. The protest was organized by the Veterinary Student Union which expressed frustration over the lack of response to repeated appeals made to both the university authorities and government officials.

Dr. Kamalpreet, one of the protesting interns, explained We were left with no other option but to protest after repeated appeals failed to yield any results.

The Veterinary Student Union raised concerns about the stipend being inadequately low claiming it fails to keep up with inflation. The union also compared the stipend for veterinary interns in Punjab to that of MBBS and BDS interns, who receive a higher stipend. Additionally they pointed out that interns at veterinary universities in other states including LUVAS (Haryana), RAJUVAS (Rajasthan) and BHU (Varanasi), receive significantly higher stipends.

On August 3, 2025, student representatives met with Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema who instructed officials to organize a meeting between the student representatives and university authorities. The students were told that the meeting would take place on September 4, 2025.

However on August 18 the students discovered that the meeting had already taken place earlier that day, but no representatives from the Veterinary Student Union were invited. We received no prior intimation about this meeting from either the Minister’s office or the university. We were denied the opportunity to present our case. The matter remains unresolved due to this negligence said Dr. Harnoor Kaur Sandhu president of the Veterinary Student Union.

While the union expressed regret for any inconvenience caused to patients and the hospital administration, they emphasized that their protest was fair, just, and necessary for the welfare of veterinary interns and students.