NMC orders medical colleges to furnish stipend information after a Supreme Court judgment
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has ordered all medical schools and health facilities to provide information on the stipends provided to postgraduate resident physicians and medical interns for the academic year 2023–2024, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment.
By April 24, the medical schools must submit the information to the NMC.
The National Medical Commission was tasked by the Supreme Court last year with investigating claims that seventy percent of medical institutions do not provide MBBS interns with the required stipend.
The NMC released an official notification that stated, “All health institutions/medical colleges are hereby directed to submit to the NMC the details of stipend paid to their UG interns, postgraduate residents, and senior residents for the 2023-24 financial year by April 23, 2024. This is because the SC has directed the NMC to submit the details of stipends paid to the medical interns and residents.”
The NMC letter also said that starting with the academic year 2024–2025, the information would be published on the internet on a monthly basis.
A number of Karnataka-based medical institutions have been complaining since March about PG students receiving meager or nonexistent stipends.
The Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors (KARD) protested the inadequate stipends granted to postgraduate students in March by holding rallies at Victoria College and Bangalore Medical College. Students at a private medical college in Sullia, Karnataka, also complained to the college administration about not receiving their monthly stipend.
The National Medical Commission mandates that PG physicians be paid, in their first, second, and third years, Rs 45,000, Rs 50,000, and Rs 55,000, respectively. Karnataka medical college students are complaining that their pay is barely 10,000, 12,500, and 15,000 rupees, respectively.
