The Supreme Court recently ordered the National Medical Commission (NMC) to provide details regarding the stipend status of medical colleges across the country. The apex court was hearing the matter regarding the payment of stipends for doctors undergoing their MBBS internship.
The Court pointed out that the NMC has not given the details of the entire medical colleges in all states and hence, the earlier direction given on September 15, 2023, has not been complied with.
In the aforementioned direction, the Supreme Court had asked the NMC to submit a tabulated chart and explain whether it is true that 70 per cent of the medical colleges in the country do not pay any stipend to interns or pay an amount that is less than the minimum set stipend and what steps the NMC is taking to ascertain compliance with the norm of paying internship stipend.
A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Prasanna B Varale ordered the NMC to provide the aforesaid details within four weeks, taking cognizance of the fact that the medical commission has not given the complete details.
Previously, the division bench raised concerns that medical colleges are not adequately paying the stipend. Justice Dhulia said that medical colleges are unprepared to pay stipends despite charging such hefty fees.
Mentioning that the medical colleges are not prepared to give stipends, Justice Dhulia stated that the colleges charge one crore for MBBS students and that he is unaware how much they are charging for postgraduate students. He further described the situation as either the students pay the medical colleges, or they don’t have the internship.
Representing the petitioner, Advocate Tanvi Dubey on April 1 hearing, contended that even Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) are not paid a stipend. The Supreme Court voiced its discontent and verbally observed that FMGs cannot be treated distinctly.
Considering the submissions, the Court has now scheduled the matter for a final hearing on May 6, 2024.