Centre unlikely to intervene to end ‘alleged’ disparity in payment of stipend for medical interns: Mansukh Mandaviya

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya indicated this as a reply to a letter by Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP

The Union government is unlikely to intervene to end the ‘alleged’ disparity in payment of stipend to medical students in government- and private medical colleges in the country.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya indicated this as a reply to a letter by Binoy Viswam, Rajya Sabha MP, on March 11. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had on January 21 sought comments from the National Medical Commission (NMC) on uniform stipend to MBBS interns in government- and private medical colleges after Mr. Viswam wrote to Mr. Mandaviya in December last year.

“The Commission has informed the Ministry that as per Section 3(a) of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations 2021, all the interns shall be paid stipend as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institution/University or State.” The Minister also said that the Centre grants payment of stipend only to the interns undergoing compulsory rotational internship in hospitals/medical institutions under its administrative control which gets revised bi-annually with the approval of the Department of Expenditure. The last revision was made on July 7, 2021. The MBBS interns are now getting a monthly stipend of ₹26,300 with effect from January 1, 2020, the Minister added.

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. He pointed out that the above-mentioned provision in the NMC’s Regulations on compulsory rotating internship led to “ambiguity and arbitrariness in the award of stipend”. It might also result in private college managements denying stipend to MBBS interns as they have complete discretion without any safeguarding mechanism. Mr. Viswam had claimed that the ramifications of this were being seen in colleges across the country as there had been disparities in the stipend amounts being paid in government medical colleges as opposed to those in the private sector.

This reply is significant as the NMC’s recently published guidelines for registration of foreign medical graduates sought their stipend and other facilities to be equivalent to Indian medical graduates being trained in government medical colleges. Public health professionals pointed out that while this magnanimity was a welcome step as an assurance to the students returning from Ukraine, similar sentiments are not shown towards those studying in private medical colleges.