The long-drawn issue of non-parity in the stipend of medical students in government and private self-financing medical colleges across the country is once again in the limelight with the National Medical Commission (NMC) issuing an advisory on Thursday to all private medical colleges to comply with Regulation 13.3 of the Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER) 2000.
The NMC warned of strict action if any complaint on non-compliance with the PGMER 2000 is received in future.
Regulation 13.3
Regulation 13.3 states that “the postgraduate students of the institutions which are located in various States/Union Territories shall be paid remuneration on a par with the remuneration being paid to the postgraduate students of State government medical institutions/Central government medical Institutions in the State/Union Territory in which the institution is located.”
PG medicos in many private medical colleges, though happy about the NMC’s intervention, are a little disappointed that the council had yet again chosen to soft-pedal the issue of stipend by merely warning private medical colleges that strict action would be taken, that too “if any complaints (regarding non-compliance with the PGMER) were received in future”.
Students’ grouse
“We have been fighting against non-parity in stipend for long and it is to ascertain the actual situation that the NMC finally held a nationwide survey among medicos from April 27 to May 5. The survey revealed the plight of PG medicos in private/self-financing medical colleges, with 42% of them saying that they were either not given the stipend or that whatever stipend they were given were promptly taken back by the management,” a PG student said on condition of anonymity.
Even after it has become clear that private/self-financing medical colleges have been violating the PGMER for a long time, the NMC is letting them off with a warning,” the student said.
In July 2021, the stipend issue was brought to the notice of the National Human Rights Commission by a medical intern from Kerala.
In an order dated March 7, 2023, the NHRC asked the NMC to ensure that MBBS interns were paid stipend on a par with government medical colleges, that too from the date of complaint. It also asked the NMC to “derecognise” colleges which were not complying with the directive.
It was the NHRC which directed that the NMC conduct a nationwide survey in all self-financing medical colleges on stipend being paid to MBB and PG interns.
A total of 28,800 medicos took part in the survey, of whom 10,178 were PG medicos. Of these, 7,901 were from private/self-financing institutions.
“The NHRC directive was to ensure that the medicos were paid the arrears of stipend due to them from July 1, 2021. Because this is a matter of injustice and discrimination, the NMC should have asked the erring colleges to clear the arrears and sought a report. The warning now issued to these colleges is a meek surrender by the apex medical regulatory authority in the country,” said K.V. Babu, a public health and RTI activist.
Mr. Babu has written to the NMC chairman on the need for a stronger response.
