The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has sought comments from the National Medical Commission (NMC) on uniform stipend to MBBS interns in government and private medical colleges across the country.
This follows a letter from Binoy Viswam, Communist Party of India’s Rajya Sabha MP, to Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare on December 8, 2021. Mr. Mandaviya directed the Secretary, NMC, on January 27 to furnish its views “at the earliest”.
In his letter, Mr. Viswam had highlighted the lack of parity in stipend given to MBBS interns in private/deemed universities and those enrolled in government colleges. A stipend is paid to the interns as a matter of right and not charity. However, there was no equity across all medical institutions, he said.
Mr. Viswam pointed out that the NMC’s Draft Regulation Compulsory Rotating Internship, 2021, issued on April 21, 2021, and gazetted on November 18 in the same year, had said that all interns shall be paid stipend “as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority as applicable to the institution/university/State.”
Problem of ambiguity
The phrasing of this provision allowed for “ambiguity and arbitrariness in the award of stipend”, he said. It might also result in private college managements denying stipend to MBBS interns as they have complete discretion without any safeguarding mechanism. Mr. Viswam claimed that the ramifications of this were being seen in colleges across the country as there had been disparities in the stipend amount being paid in government medical colleges as opposed to those in the private sector.
According to sources, the erstwhile Medical Council of India (MCI), however, had come up with a public notice on January 25, 2019, on Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 1997. The Board of Governors that superseded the MCI was considering to include a provision which said that “All the candidates pursuing compulsory rotating internship at the institution from which MBBS course was completed, shall be paid stipend on par with the stipend being paid to the interns of the State Govt. Medical Institution/Central Government Medical Institution in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located.” However, it was not gazetted until the Board was dissolved.
HC directive
The Kerala High Court, in an order on October 29, 2015, had directed PMS College of Dental Science and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, to pay stipend to the BDS interns at the rate of what is being paid to the government dental colleges in the State.
Mr. Viswam urged the Minister to consult with all stakeholders, including State governments, MBBS college managements, medical professionals and MBBS students to formulate a policy for the purpose.
