Non-payment of Stipend to MBBS Interns: Supreme Court tells NMC to respond in Four Weeks

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has granted the National Medical Commission (NMC) four weeks of time to respond to the plea concerning the issue of non-payment of stipend to MBBS interns.

The Apex Court bench led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud granted this time to the Commission after the counsel for NMC, Advocate Gaurav Sharma sought four weeks time to file a response in the matter.

As per the plea, 70% of the medical colleges across the country do not pay any stipend or are not paying the minimum stipend to doctors who are doing MBBS internships.

"This is like bonded labour. These are all students who have finished 4 years...what is NMC doing? They allow big colleges to take crores and these poor students who work at 20 hrs a day, they're not paid at all," the CJI was quoted observing by Live Law in a Tweet.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Supreme Court bench had taken cognisance of the issue while considering a plea filed by five MBBS students studying at Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS) affiliated with Guru Govind Singh Indraprashtha University seeking stipend for the period of internship.

Also Read: SC seeks NMC's response on plea claiming 70 percent of Medical Colleges not Paying Stipend to MBBS Interns

During the hearing of the case, the counsel for the students Advocate Vaibhav Gagghar had informed the bench that a recent NMC report stated that 70 per cent of the medical colleges in the country are not paying stipends to their interns.

Taking note of this, the bench directed NMC's counsel Advocate Gaurav Sharma to respond to the claim and file an affidavit giving a tabulated chart of colleges which are paying the stipend to the interns and which are not paying.

It said the NMC’s mandate cannot be breached and that interns, who come from different backgrounds, are required to be paid stipend for the period of internship.

Further, the top court bench led by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud directed the Apex Medical Commission to file a report giving details about the claim of petitioners that 70 per cent of medical colleges do not pay any stipend to MBBS interns and what steps have been taken to ensure payment of stipend to them as per the norms.

The matter was heard again today and Live Law in a recent Tweet mentioned that Advocate Gaurav Sharma, the counsel for NMC, sought four weeks time to file a response in the matter. Consequently, the Apex Court bench comprising the CJI granted the time to the Commission.

Terming this practice to be "bonded labour", the Supreme Court bench further questioned what the Commission was doing and observed, "They allow big colleges to take crores and these poor students who work at 20 hrs a day, they're not paid at all."

"Let's wait for NMC's response and then we will see," further observed the CJI.

Last month while considering the plea filed by the ACMS Students, the top court bench had directed the medical college to start paying its Interns Rs 25,000 per month from October 1, 2023.

"The interns are required to be paid stipend during the period of internship. Mandate of regulations adopted by the NMC cannot be breached", the bench stated in its order.

Taking into account that the college is being run by a welfare society for the children of Army personnel, the bench gave the institution liberty to approach the Fee Regulatory Committee in Delhi with a representation of likely financial impact of the Court’s directions. It said that the fee regulatory committee shall determine whether enhancement of fees of students of the college is necessary to meet the additional expenditure on account of payment of stipend.

Further, with respect to the students who have already completed the internship in the immediately previous batch, the Court said that it is included to fix a lump sum payment.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that an online survey conducted by NMC, in which 10,178 responses were received from PG medical students, revealed that altogether 2110 PG students of various private medical colleges across the country were not receiving any stipend.