'Wake up from slumber' Supreme Court slams NMC over non-payment of stipend to MBBS interns, gives deadline
Supreme Court of India
New Delhi: While considering the batch of pleas that were listed before the Apex Court today, concerning the non-payment of stipend to the Indian and Foreign Medical Graduates undergoing MBBS internship, the Supreme Court slammed the National Medical Commission (NMC). The bench noted that the NMC failed to comply with its own directive issued in July this y,ear requiring all medical colleges to mandatorily disclose stipend details.
With this, the bench granted two weeks to the National Medical Commission (NMC) to file a compliance affidavit in this regard.
During the hearing of the case, the counsel for NMC, Mr Shashank Manish, produced the circular dated 11.07.2025 issued by the NMC to the medical colleges. In the said circular, NMC had directed all the colleges to provide the details in respect to how much stipend they were paying or not paying.
However, noting that the medical colleges were not complying with the said notification, the Apex Court bench directed the National Medical Commission to comply with the said notice.
At this outset, the Court also observed that there was a directive by the Supreme Court issued in 2023 in which NMC was directed to provide the details of the colleges that were paying or not paying stipend to the MBBS interns. However, since then, 2 years have passed, and months have passed since the July 2025 notification as well.
Therefore, the Apex Court bench has granted the Commission two weeks of time to it has also directed the Ministry to supervise the actions of the National Medical Commission.
Advocate Tanvi Dubey, who appeared on behalf of doctors in several connected pleas, argued before the Apex Court that the doctors are the backbones and they are working for more than 18 hours and stipend is the basic thing that they are expecting. Advocate Dubey also highlighted that there are pleas which are older than two years, and doctors who filed those petitions have already graduated. Since then, other batches have come, and the colleges are not paying stipend to the new batch as well.
During the hearing today, UDF’s Legal Advisor and Advocate-on-Record, Dr. Charu Mathur, also appeared before the Supreme Court and presented the matter concerning the inequality between Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs) and FMGs.
Dr. Mathur emphasized the long-standing national demand of “One Nation, One Stipend” - ensuring equal pay for equal work across all medical institutions in India. The Hon’ble Bench held an extensive discussion on the matter and expressed strong displeasure over the continued disparity.
The Court directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to file its affidavit at the earliest, warning that in case of any further delay, the Court may proceed to issue binding directions without further hearings, a statement issued by Advocate Mathur said.
Taking note of the submissions, the Court issued directions to the NMC to submit an affidavit and listed the matter for further hearing after two weeks.
"The conduct of the NMC requires to be deprecated in as much as the payment of the stipend to the interns has been pending since long before this Court and yet, NMC seems to be dragging its feet without any serious consideration. As such, we are forced to make this observation. We hope and trust the NMC would get up from its slumber and take appropriate steps as indicated in its own communication dated 11. 07. 2025, at least by the next date of hearing. The NMC shall also file an affidavit enclosing the list of medical colleges/institutes which have published the details as indicated in the communication dated 11.07.2025 and also produce the copy for the perusal of this Court. Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shall ensure that the NMC would comply as indicated in the communication dated 11.07.2025," the bench ordered, as quoted by Livelaw.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that a plea was filed before the Supreme Court by five MBBS students studying at the Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS), affiliated with Guru Govind Singh Indraprashtha University, seeking a stipend for the period of internship.
While considering the plea filed by ACMS students, the top court bench had directed the medical college to start paying its Interns Rs 25,000 per month from October 1, 2023.
During the hearing of the case, the counsel for the students, Advocate Vaibhav Gagghar, had informed the bench that a recent NMC report stated that 70 per cent of the medical colleges in the country were not paying stipends to their interns. Taking note of this, the bench had directed the National Medical Commission's counsel Advocate Gaurav Sharma to respond to the claim and file an affidavit. This direction was issued back in 2023.
Back in August this year, the Supreme Court bench directed Delhi-based Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS) to clear internship stipend arrears, calculated at Rs 25,000 per month, to the MBBS interns of the 2022 batch, who had originally approached the Court in this regard.
