Now MBBS interns at Private Medical Colleges in Maharashtra to get Rs 18k stipend

Mumbai: Bringing good news to the MBBS students undergoing internship at the private medical colleges in the State, the State Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has issued a recent directive stating that the interns from the private medical colleges should be paid a stipend of Rs 18,000 per month.

Issuing a directive in this regard on July 10, DMER asked the private medical colleges in Maharashtra to submit a details report regarding stipends. The State issued the directive when the parents of the medical students, on the other hand, claimed that barring one or two medical institutes, the private medical colleges in Maharashtra never paid its interns "a decent amount", TOI has reported.

The MBBS graduates in India must undergo an MBBS internship for one year to be able to get their degrees and practice in the country. During the internship period, the interns receive a stipend from their institutes or the State Government authorities, depending on their institutes.

Medical Dialogues has been reporting about the issue of stipend disparity faced by MBBS interns along with their demands for a Uniform Stipend Policy across the country. Private medical college students across the country have been continuously complaining about not getting stipends from their parent institutes.

The NMC norms state that all the intern doctors shall be paid stipends as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority applicable to the Institution/University/State. Therefore, the chances of the Interns doctors getting stipend for their service largely depends upon their concerned parent institutes or the State authorities.

In the case of Maharashtra, the amount of stipend was not specified for such colleges in the State. Issuing a resolution on February 27, 2024, the Maharashtra Government increased the amount of stipend for the MBBS interns working in the State-run colleges from Rs 11,000 to Rs 18,000 per month.

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

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, reiterating its earlier orders, the State has now issued a circular fixing the amount at Rs 18,000 per month for the private medical college interns as well.

This directive by the DMER comes when recently a group of medical graduates from a Nagpur-based private medical college filed a plea before the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court demanding parity in the stipend paid to the MBBS interns in private and government medical colleges.

The medicos, who pursued their medical education from NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences (NKPIMS), pointed out that they receive only Rs 4,000 per month as their stipend while the medicos at the Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals (GMCH) and the government-aided colleges receive Rs 18,000 per month.

Hindustan Times had reported that the private medical colleges in Mumbai pay stipends of Rs 6,000 to Rs 11,000 to the interns. Referring to this, a student told the Daily, "In such a small amount, it is very difficult to survive in a city like Mumbai."

Commenting on the matter, Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative informed TOI that barring a Mumbai college that pays full amount to its interns as stipend, several medical colleges do not follow the NMC directive. She added, "A Navi Mumbai college has not paid a single rupee to students in years. Another one in Nagpur pays less than Rs 2,000 per month. Following the NMC directive, deemed institutions have started paying Rs 18,000 as stipend, but not private ones."

She also pointed out that it is not being monitored if the directives issued by the National Medical Commission are being followed in the State.

Meanwhile, Dilip Mhaisekar, director of DMER assured taking action if students complain of not receiving stipends. He told HT, "f we receive any written complaint from students that they are not receiving stipends as per rules, we will act accordingly."

The issue of stipends paid to the MBBS interns is also being considered by the Supreme Court. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that during the hearing of the issue earlier this year, the Supreme Court had directed NMC to submit the details of the stipend paid to the MBBS interns in all the medical colleges across all States within four weeks.