FMGs move Supreme Court over unpaid stipend, Notice issued to NMC, MP Medical Council
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sought a response from the National Medical Commission (NMC), Madhya Pradesh Medical Council, MP DME, and MIMS Medical College and Hospital on a plea seeking stipend for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) during their internship.
Filing the plea, the medical graduates from abroad, who are currently undergoing internship at Mahaveer Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal, challenged the non-payment of stipend.
Issuing notices to NMC, MPMC, DME, Directorate of Health Services (DHS) and MIMS Medical College, the Apex Court bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. Vinod Chandran listed the matter for further hearing on 28.07.2025.
The plea has been filed by a group of four FMGs through Advocate on Record Tanvi Dubey and it argues that non-payment of stipends violates their fundamental rights under the constitution.
Further, it has been argued that while FMGs and Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs) are working similar duty hours, the medical graduates from abroad are being arbitrarily denied their rightful stipends.
Also Read: Supreme Court to Decide on Stipend for FMG Internship, Notice Issued
As per the latest media report Lawbeat, referring to Clause 3 (Schedule IV) of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations, 2021, the plea argued that the said provisions mandated that all interns must be paid a stipend, as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institute.
The plea also highlighted the financial struggles faced by the FMGs and added, "Incurring all the expenses including food, accommodation, travel, and miscellaneous expenses on their own account without any stipend whatsoever. This is a catch-22 situation for them since they have no other option but to continue their internship on their own expenses."
It also pointed out that many of these interns took education loans to pursue their medical studies and stated that the interns now face great difficulty in meeting both educational and day-to-day expenses. It also noted that several interns are posted outside their home states, which is further adding to their financial burden.
Citing the Supreme Court's order in the case of Abhishek Yadav & Ors. Vs. Army Medical College & Ors, the plea pointed out that the Apex Court had allowed the payment of stipends to the interns pursuing their compulsory one-year internship.
It emphasized that the FMGs have already spent 4-6 years of their lives on medical education and now after returning back to their home countries, such administrative hurdles are hampering their motivation and making their qualifications of no use.
Accordingly, the petitioners have sought directions from the concerned authorities to provide a regular monthly stipend for the entire period of the internship with retrospective effect and it also prayed for a direction to NMC to instruct other authorities to determine the stipend payable to the petitioners for the entire internship period, as per the standards followed by other medical colleges.
Medical Dialogues had previously reported that last year while considering a similar issue, the Supreme Court had observed that the FMGs cannot be treated differently and should be paid stipends during their internship like their counterparts who have done MBBS from the Indian Medical Colleges.
This observation was made by the top court bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prasanna Bhalachandra after taking note of the submissions of lawyer Tanvi Dubey, appearing for a group of doctors, that foreign medical graduates in certain medical colleges are not being paid stipends during their internships.
Also Read: Supreme Court relief: FMGs to now get stipend during internship as Indian MBBS interns
