Uniform Stipend for all PG Medicos in a particular State, UT: NMC

New Delhi: Bringing uniformity in the amount of stipend paid to postgraduate medical students in a particular State/UT, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has now specified that PG medicos who are pursuing degree, diploma or super-speciality courses should be paid a stipend at par with the stipend being paid to the PG students of Government institutes, in that particular State/UT.

This is a major relief for all the PG medicos since they have been demanding a uniform stipend policy for a long time. There have often been complaints from the resident doctors of private medical institutes that they are paid a meager amount of stipend, compared to the stipend being paid in the Government institutes.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the final Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023 (PGMER 2023), which were published in the official Gazette on 29.12.2023, lay down the rules and regulations regarding admission, counselling, and other details related to the postgraduate medical courses.

Chapter V of the new regulations deals with the details related to the training of the resident doctors. Section 5.4 of the regulations mentioned about the details of the stipend paid to post-graduate students.

In this regard, the new PGMER 2023 mentioned, "The post-graduate students undergoing post-graduate Degree/Diploma/Super-speciality courses in all the institutions shall be paid a stipend at par with the stipend being paid to the post-graduate students of State Government medical institutions/Central Government medical institutions, in the State/Union Territory where the institution is located."

Apart from this, there is also a provision for 20 days of paid casual leave, and five days of academic leave per year. Further, subject to the exigencies of work, post-graduate students will be allowed one weekly holiday, as specified in the new regulations.

Also Read: Final PGMER 2023 Regulations released in Gazette, details

Clarifying that all Post-graduate students will work as full-time resident doctors, the regulations further mentioned that they will work "reasonable" working hours and will be provided "reasonable time for rest in a day".

As per the latest media report by Indian Express, previously there was a huge disparity between the stipend paid to PG medicos in the Government and Private medical colleges in Maharashtra. Referring to this, a student told the Daily, "In Maharashtra, when a PG student from GMC is getting paid close to Rs 80,000 a month, in private medical colleges this varies from 20,000-50,000. Whereas some do not even pay any stipend to PG students. In Karnataka, where GMCs are paying Rs 40,000 a month, private colleges are paying almost half of it."

Therefore, the NMC's decision to implement a uniform stipend in a particular State/UT has been welcomed by students and parents alike. Commenting on the matter, one of the parents, Brijesh Sutaria told the Daily, "Clarity in stipend for PG students across medical colleges was need of the hour. It is important to see that these regulations are implemented and do not remain only on paper."

On the one hand, NMC PGMER 2023 has specified that PG medicos in a particular State/UT have to be paid a uniform stipend, and on the other, two separate complaints have been lodged with the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER) and the CM window portal accusing the colleges in Haryana of violating the NMC guidelines in this regard, adds The Tribune India. The Daily further adds that taking serious note of these complaints, the DMER has started investigating the issue. 

The complaint lodged in the CM window portal mentioned, "Three private medical colleges affiliated to Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences (UHS), Rohtak, are paying merely Rs 40,000 per month to its students enrolled in MD/MS courses, which is much lesser than the amount fixed by the state government."

Besides, the complainant has claimed that as per the guidelines, the government colleges were paying Rs 86,170 to the first year PG medicos, Rs 88,781 to the 2nd years and Rs 91,392 to the third years. However, the private medical colleges were alleged violating the guidelines.

He pointed out that even the State Government's notification dated August 9, 2023 clearly mentioned that all PG medical students irrespective of their specialities of MD/MS course should be paid a stipend on par with the stipend paid by the government to the PG students. 

Another complainant alleged that his daughter was getting Rs 40,000 per month as stipend by a private medical college in violation of the NMC guidelines and the directions issued by the State Government.

"Besides the government, the NMC notification dated December 29, 2023, also states that the PG students of all institutes should be paid stipend on a par with the government-run medical colleges in the state concerned but the guidelines are not being followed by the private colleges," claimed the complainant.

Also Read: Stipend Disparities Mar MBBS education in India, Will NMC intervene?