The Union government is unlikely to intervene to address the ‘alleged’ disparity in stipend payments to medical students enrolled in government- and private-run medical colleges in the country.
Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya stated this in response to a March 11 letter from Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare sought comments from the National Medical Commission (NMC) on January 21 regarding a uniform pay for MBBS interns in government- and private-run medical colleges, following Mr. Viswam’s December letter to Mr. Mandaviya.
“The Commission has informed the Ministry that, pursuant to Section 3(a) of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations 2021, all interns shall be paid a stipend determined by the institution/university or state.” Additionally, the Minister stated that the Centre pays stipends only to interns undergoing mandatory rotational internships in hospitals/medical institutions under its administrative control, which is revised biannually with approval from the Department of Expenditure. The most recent revision occurred on July 7, 2021. Interns in the MBBS program will now receive a monthly stipend of $26,300 beginning January 1, 2020, the Minister added.
The disparity in Stipend to MBBS interns
Mr. Viswam highlighted in his letter the disparity in stipends paid to MBBS interns at private/deemed universities and those at government colleges. He noted that the provision referred to above in the NMC’s Regulations on mandatory rotating internships resulted in “ambiguity and arbitrariness in stipend award.” Additionally, it is possible that private college administrations will deny stipends to MBBS interns, as they have complete discretion and no safeguards in place. Mr. Viswam claimed that the ramifications of this were being felt in colleges across the country, as there had been disparities in the stipend amounts paid to students attending government medical colleges versus those attending private medical colleges.
This response is significant because the NMC’s recently published guidelines for foreign medical graduates’ registration required that the amount paid and other benefits be comparable to those received by Indian medical graduates trained in government medical colleges. While public health professionals lauded this act of magnanimity as an assurance to students returning from Ukraine, they noted that similar sentiments are not expressed toward students enrolled in private medical colleges.