‘Changes in stipend payment for medical interns may require further talks’

The Under-Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has said that any changes in the regulations on stipend payment for medical interns may require further discussions in line with the statutory process.

The comment assumes significance against the backdrop of the alleged disparity in payment of stipend to medical interns in government and private medical colleges across the country. Public health activists and students’ unions have been claiming that the interns in private medical colleges are paid less compared with their counterparts in government medical colleges.

The remarks by Ram Pratap, Director, UGMEB, made on February 18, were in response to a letter by Kannur-based ophthalmologist and RTI activist K.V. Babu to the Union Health Minister highlighting the “discriminatory clauses” related to stipend payment in the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations, 2021. Mr. Pratap told the Medical Education (Policy) [MEP] wing of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare that the provision on stipend in the regulations says that all interns shall be paid stipend “as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institution/ university or State”. Also, the 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 52 weeks (12 months) only.

However, Mr. Pratap also says that the actual implementation, including the rate of stipend, is undertaken by the respective States/Union Territories in accordance with their financial capacity and budgetary provisions. The regulations have been notified after deliberations with the concerned authorities, experts, and competent authorities assigned at the time of their formulation. Mr. Pratap points out that in view of this, any amendment to the regulations, if required, would “need consideration in accordance with the statutory process” and “after due consultation with all concerned authorities”.

Dr. Babu told The Hindu that when the draft regulations were put in the public domain in 2021, he had informed the UGMEB that they were “very vague” and would give ample opportunity for private medical college managements to deny stipend to the MBBS interns. “Unfortunately, the UGMEB gazetted the draft regulations without incorporating my comments, though they were the only response submitted on the issue. Now, the MEP also agrees with my point that the present regulations are discriminatory. It is for the UGMEB to amend them to avoid the continued exploitation of the interns,” he added.