Non-payment of stipend: Supreme Court notice to NMC, MP medical college on plea of foreign medical graduates

New Delhi, January 23

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the National Medical Commission (NMC) and a Madhya Pradesh-based government medical college on a petition filed by five foreign medical graduates complaining about non-payment of stipend during their internship.

A Bench led by Justice BR Gavai asked the NMC, the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council apart from the NMC and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Vidisha to respond to the petition filed by the five doctors including Sajith SL of Thiruvananthapuram, and posted the matter for further hearing on March 11.

The petitioners demanded that they should be treated on a par with those who did MBBS from medical colleges in India.

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that they were being deprived of their rightful claim to monthly stipend even when the notification issued by the NMC stated that they should be treated on a par with Indian medical graduates.

The petitioners have 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 in terms of 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.