Stipend Disparity for MBBS interns continues in Maharashtra

Written by Barsha Misra Published On 2022-05-26T16:13:22+05:30 | Updated On 30 Sep 2023 11:54 AM GMT

Stipend Disparity for MBBS interns continues in Maharashtra

Mumbai: While the new MBBS graduates in Maharashtra are participating in the orientation program before enrolling themselves for the mandatory MBBS internship, the controversy regarding the stipend parity of MBBS students has once again become a matter of discussion.The problem at the core is the fact that even though the interns at the Government institutes get a monthly stipend of Rs...

Mumbai: While the new MBBS graduates in Maharashtra are participating in the orientation program before enrolling themselves for the mandatory MBBS internship, the controversy regarding the stipend parity of MBBS students has once again become a matter of discussion.

The problem at the core is the fact that even though the interns at the Government institutes get a monthly stipend of Rs 11,000, the MBBS interns belonging to private facilities are allegedly not getting the same.

Meanwhile, DMER officials have informed HT that they have received complaints in this regard and they are looking into the matter.

Medical Dialogues has been reporting about the huge pay disparity between the MBBS interns at Government and Private medical colleges in India. Several instances of Private Medical Colleges were found where the management was paying no or minimal stipend to the students.

Although initiatives were taken by erstwhile Medical Council of India to end this disparity, later MCI was replaced by NMC and the problems remained unsolved.

In the Draft regulations for Rotational Compulsory Regulations 2021, released in April, NMC, the apex medical body mentioned, "All interns shall be paid stipend as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority applicable to the institution/university/state."

Also Read: Health Ministry cannot intervene to solve pay parity of MBBS interns: Mansukh Mandaviya

Following this, several suggestions were given to the NMC and requests were made to the Union Health Ministry seeking a Uniform Stipend Policy. However, nothing in this regard has been done yet and as a result the fate of MBBS interns studying in private medical colleges still depend on their respective institutes.

In a recent circular, NMC directed all the medical institutes in the country to not charge any fees for the MBBS interns (Indian and Foreign medical graduates) and also asked them to pay them stipend. In fact, NMC had directed all the State Medical Councils and Directorates of Medical Education (DME) to take necessary action in this regard. However, the Apex Medical Regulator has not fixed any amount of stipend that the medical institutes must pay to the students.

As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, due to this lack of clarity, the private medical institutes in Maharashtra are not paying stipend to the interns and in this regard, the State DMER has received several complaints as well.

While commenting on the ongoing disparity regarding the stipend amount, a student belonging to a Jalgaon-based private medical college informed the daily that their institute has informed during orientation that they would not get any stipend.

"Internships are compulsory for all. While our fellow students in GMCs are paid a stipend, our institute has clarified that no stipend will be paid, which is unfair," said the student.

"This is leading to more confusion. Some colleges in the state like Palghar's Vedanta Medical College have decided to pay only Rs 5,000 as monthly stipend, whereas Pune-based Kashibai Navale Medical College has decided to cover lodging and boarding costs for students. There is no uniformity in place," another student added.

Meanwhile, after complaining to the DMER, now the students and their parents have approached the Central Government authorities with this issue and speaking to HT in this regard, parent of an MBBS intern said, "Either the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) or the NMC need to release a clear statement about the status of stipend for MBBS interns. Without such an official notice, many students in private medical colleges will end up working without any stipend for the next one year. Even the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) can get involved because they give fee approval taking into account stipends for medical interns."

Also Read: Take strict action on medical colleges charging MBBS internship fee, and not paying stipend to FMGs: NMC orders state counterparts

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Source : with inputs

Barsha Misra

M.A in English

Barsha completed her Master's in English from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal in 2018. Having a knack for Journalism she joined Medical Dialogues back in 2020. She mainly covers news about medico legal cases, NMC/DCI updates, medical education issues including the latest updates about medical and dental colleges in India. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.