The Supreme Court recently issued notice to National Medical Council (NMC) and a Madhya Pradesh based government medical college after taking note of the grievance of some foreign medical graduates about not being paid stipend during the internship.
A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta took note of the submissions of lawyers Tanvi Dubey, appearing for five doctors who obtained their degrees from foreign medical colleges. The foreign medical graduates submitted that they should be treated on par with those who did MBBS from Indian Institutions.
The Supreme Court bench also issued notice to the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council apart from the National Medical Council (NMC) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Vidisha on the plea lodged by the five including Sajith SL of Thiruvananthapuram, and scheduled it for hearing on March 11.
During the brief hearing, Advocate Tanvi Dubey argued that these students are being deprived of their rightful claim of monthly stipend even when the notification issued by the NMC states that they be treated on a par with Indian medical graduates.
The plea urged the top court to direct the medical college to provide regular monthly stipend to the petitioners and the students who are part of the list for the entire period of their internship.
The petition also sought directions to the NMC and others to determine the stipend to be paid to such students for the entire period of their internship as per the standards followed by other medical colleges. Reportedly, these students are currently doing their internship at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Vidisha.
Additionally, the plea also referred to the November 17, 2022 notice of the Government Medical Education Department of Madhya Pradesh which provided for a stipend of Rs 12,760 to interns with effect from April 01, 2022.