Pay Internship Stipend Arrears to FMGs at par with Indian Medical Graduates: Supreme Court Directs AMU

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has directed the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to give internship stipend arrears to 11 Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) within 2 weeks.

While considering the plea filed by these medical graduates from abroad, the Supreme Court issued directions to the AMU to disburse the stipend of Rs 26,300 per month to the petitioners within two weeks to ensure that the FMGs get the same amount of stipend, which is already being paid to the Indian Medical Graduates.

The plea before the Supreme Court was filed by 11 medical graduates from abroad who completed their primary medical education from foreign medical institutes and qualified as FMGs. Consequently, they underwent an internship at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh- a constituent college of AMU and they are now completing their internship tenure.

Aggrieved by the non-payment of stipends given to them during the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI), they filed a plea before the Supreme Court. They were represented by Advocate Charu Mathur. They pointed out that even though AMU paid an internship stipend to Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs), they were left out.

Also Read: Non-Payment of Stipend to MBBS Interns- Supreme Court to Hear Plea in July

The students pointed out in the plea that the IMGs at AMU are paid Rs 26,300 per month, and the FMGs at other central universities like BHU are also being paid the same amount. However, pointing out that the FMGs at the AMU are not being paid any stipend, the petitioners argued it to be unreasonable.

As per the latest media report by Live Law, the petitioners claimed that AMU was not disbursing the funds allocated to it by the University Grants Commission (UGC). The plea referred to the Annual Report for 2023-2024 which showed the balance of Rs 83.3117 Crores under the salary head allotted to AMU.

Calculating the total amount, the petitioners mentioned that the total sum due for the 11 FMG petitioners over 12 months is Rs 34,71,600 (Thirty-Four Lakhs Seventy-One Thousand Six Hundred Only).

"Despite having access to the necessary funds, the Respondent University is unjustifiably delaying the payment of stipends to the Petitioners. In a manifestation of bureaucratic inertia, the University has resorted to repeated correspondence with the UGC, seeking additional funds for stipend disbursement. However, the UGC has already clarified in its communication that stipends are to be paid from the salary head of the grant (OH-36). Despite the availability of funds. Respondent No.l has inexplicably failed to release the stipend, thereby perpetuating an unjust and discriminatory situation against the Petitioners," stated the plea.

Regarding the payment of stipend during internship, Clause 3 (Schedule IV) of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations, 2021 states the following:

(a) All interns shall be paid stipend as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institution/ University or State.

(b) Stipend may not be paid during any period of extension except in the case of maternity or paternity leave or medical leave, as may be recommended and approved by the Medical Board. Total stipend paid for the entire internship may be for fifty-two weeks (Twelve months) only.

The Supreme Court's direction regarding payment of stipend to FMGs comes at a time when a bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran is also considering the issue of non-payment of stipend to the foreign medical graduates (FMGs) who were interning at Mahaveer Institute of Medical Sciences, Bhopal. Back in 2024, the Apex Court had directed NMC to submit the details regarding the stipend status of medical colleges across all States.

Recently, the Apex Medical Commission asked the medical colleges to publish the details of the stipend paid to the interns on the official website of the institutes.

Also Read: Publish Complete Fee Structure, Stipend Details- NMC warns Medical Colleges