ESIC Bihta FMGs call off strike after stipend assurance

Patna: After getting assurance from the college authorities regarding the payment of pending stipend, around 96 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) from Bihar, undergoing their MBBS internship at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Bihta, have called off their indefinite strike on the second day.

The protesting interns said that the college authorities have assured them that their pending stipend would be credited by February. Most of these medical graduates from abroad, who were on strike, had pursued their MBBS from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Armenia and Ukraine.

Allegedly, these FMG interns from ESIC Bihta have not received any stipend for 6 months despite continuous work. This was the second strike held by the FMGs in the past two months over non-payment of stipend.

According to the FMG interns, issuing a notice on December 30, the ESIC Medical College Dean Dr. Binay Kumar Biswas assured the students that the stipend would be credited by mid-January 2026 at the earliest and by mid-February 2026 at the latest. However, the reason for the delay in stipend disbursement was not clearly specified in the notice.

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The notice dated 30.12.2025, issued by the ESIC Dean stated, "...the issue of delayed release of stipend has come under due deliberation and its possible time of sanction, release followed by disbursement from institute authority have also been discussed. The ESIC-HQ has explicitly expressed the status of sanction and institute authority, by summarising and clarifying it further, has narrated that the earliest possible date for crediting is mid–Jan, 26 and latest by mid-Feb, 26. Reasons behind and steps involved have been well explained."

Therefore, the medicos have no clue regarding the reason for the delay in stipend disbursement.

As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, on Wednesday, the Dean reportedly called the agitating interns to the conference hall and warned them that the duration of their internship could be extended for the period of the strike. Finally, after the discussions with the college authorities, including heads of various departments, the FMG interns decided to withdraw their indefinite strike and resume duty.

These FMG interns cleared their licensing exam back in January and joined the ESIC medical college on June 15 to complete their one-year MBBS internship, which is mandatory to practice in India.

However, they alleged that since joining the institute back in June, they have not received any stipend even though earlier three written assurances were issued by the college administration. Commenting on the matter, an intern informed HT on the condition of anonymity, that the MBBS interns are entitled to a monthly stipend of Rs 20,000 per month, which was revised to Rs 27,000 from September, based on a communication issued by the authorities.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that, upset over the delay in disbursement of stipend, the medical graduates from abroad undergoing their mandatory internship at ESIC Medical College, Patna, protested inside the medical college hospital and kept the Outpatient Department (OPD) services briefly closed back in November 2025.

Around 70-80 such FMGs who are undergoing internship at the medical college participated in the protest. The emergency services remained unaffected and were kept operational.

Following this, a notice was issued on November 17 by the Dean and the FMGs were assured that the issue would be resolved by December 31, 2025.

Also Read: NO stipend for 5 months: ESIC Patna FMG interns protest, shut OPD