HYDERABAD: The Medical Council of India (MCI) pulled up the Telangana state government over a controversial government order issued earlier this year in May, allowing private medical colleges to collect stipend worth Rs 50 crore from post graduate medicos.
The apex medical council swung into action after a string of complaints poured in from different quarters over illegal collection of stipend from medicos. In a strongly worded letter, MCI's post graduate committee secretary Reena Nayyar, asked the director of medical education in Telangana to respond immediately on what grounds it permitted private medical colleges to violate regulations and asked money from students, instead of paying them the mandatory stipend.
"The private medical colleges seem to have misled the state government to allow them to collect Rs 50 crore of stipends from around 625 PG medicos for their entire three-year period of study through a GO. The state must immediately cancel this GO," said Dr K Ramesh Reddy, MCI member and one of the several complainants, who brought the issue to the notice of the MCI last month.
In fact, several other individuals, independent medicos and representatives of Telangana Junior Doctors' Association (TJUDA) too have dragged both the state and private medical colleges in Telangana before MCI.
However, when TOI sought comments on the stipend imbroglio that the medicos in private colleges are facing, some of the senior officials from the Telangana health and medical education department defended the controversial GO No 35, while others just played safe. "Though the government has allowed private medical colleges to collect stipend from students and pay back the same to them later on, we have not in any way interfered with MCI's regulation. The state is within its rights to issue such an order," said Gopal Reddy, deputy secretary, health department, Telangana.
On the other hand, Dr M Ramani, the D.ME, Telangana, played it safe saying that she was not aware about the circumstances behind the GO, when it was issued in May, as she took charge in June.
However, TJUDA state president Dr G Srinivas and independent medicos like Dr P Rajesh, a first year MS surgery student in Guntur Medical College, not only differed with the state officials' version but have gone on to lodge a complaint against private medical colleges with MCI. "Last month, my private medical college in Karimnagar forcibly collected first installment of my total stipend Rs 2.5 lakh when I reported before the college, days before I got a seat in a government medical college," said Rajesh, who too has lodged a complaint with MCI now.
Narrating the woes of the 1,800 odd PG medicos studying in 15 private medical colleges in Telangana, TJUDA state president G Srinivas said the state government must withdraw the controversial GO. "Last month, these 15 colleges collected around Rs 5.5 crore from PG medicos as the first quarter stipend but we don't know how they are going to pay back the same later," he said.
So, what's the rule position on stipend for medicos?
Under Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, the MCI states: The post graduate students of the institutions which are located in various states / union territories shall be paid remuneration at par with the remuneration being paid to the post graduate students of state government medical institutions / central government medical Institutions. The average monthly stipend paid to a PG medico in a state-run medical college is about Rs 22,000.
Meanwhile, when contacted, C Laxmi Narsimha Rao, convenor of Telangana private medical colleges, acknowledged that private medical colleges were collecting stipends from medicos only to pay them back later and totally defended the GO.
"We (private medical colleges) do not have money to pay stipend to our medicos as we rarely generate revenue from hospitals attached to our medical colleges. This is due to the fact that we charge subsidised fees for both out-patient and In-patient treatments," he said, adding that for six years, the government did not hike tuition fees of medical courses in the state.
The apex medical council swung into action after a string of complaints poured in from different quarters over illegal collection of stipend from medicos. In a strongly worded letter, MCI's post graduate committee secretary Reena Nayyar, asked the director of medical education in Telangana to respond immediately on what grounds it permitted private medical colleges to violate regulations and asked money from students, instead of paying them the mandatory stipend.
"The private medical colleges seem to have misled the state government to allow them to collect Rs 50 crore of stipends from around 625 PG medicos for their entire three-year period of study through a GO. The state must immediately cancel this GO," said Dr K Ramesh Reddy, MCI member and one of the several complainants, who brought the issue to the notice of the MCI last month.
In fact, several other individuals, independent medicos and representatives of Telangana Junior Doctors' Association (TJUDA) too have dragged both the state and private medical colleges in Telangana before MCI.
However, when TOI sought comments on the stipend imbroglio that the medicos in private colleges are facing, some of the senior officials from the Telangana health and medical education department defended the controversial GO No 35, while others just played safe. "Though the government has allowed private medical colleges to collect stipend from students and pay back the same to them later on, we have not in any way interfered with MCI's regulation. The state is within its rights to issue such an order," said Gopal Reddy, deputy secretary, health department, Telangana.
On the other hand, Dr M Ramani, the D.ME, Telangana, played it safe saying that she was not aware about the circumstances behind the GO, when it was issued in May, as she took charge in June.
However, TJUDA state president Dr G Srinivas and independent medicos like Dr P Rajesh, a first year MS surgery student in Guntur Medical College, not only differed with the state officials' version but have gone on to lodge a complaint against private medical colleges with MCI. "Last month, my private medical college in Karimnagar forcibly collected first installment of my total stipend Rs 2.5 lakh when I reported before the college, days before I got a seat in a government medical college," said Rajesh, who too has lodged a complaint with MCI now.
Narrating the woes of the 1,800 odd PG medicos studying in 15 private medical colleges in Telangana, TJUDA state president G Srinivas said the state government must withdraw the controversial GO. "Last month, these 15 colleges collected around Rs 5.5 crore from PG medicos as the first quarter stipend but we don't know how they are going to pay back the same later," he said.
So, what's the rule position on stipend for medicos?
Under Post Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, the MCI states: The post graduate students of the institutions which are located in various states / union territories shall be paid remuneration at par with the remuneration being paid to the post graduate students of state government medical institutions / central government medical Institutions. The average monthly stipend paid to a PG medico in a state-run medical college is about Rs 22,000.
Meanwhile, when contacted, C Laxmi Narsimha Rao, convenor of Telangana private medical colleges, acknowledged that private medical colleges were collecting stipends from medicos only to pay them back later and totally defended the GO.
"We (private medical colleges) do not have money to pay stipend to our medicos as we rarely generate revenue from hospitals attached to our medical colleges. This is due to the fact that we charge subsidised fees for both out-patient and In-patient treatments," he said, adding that for six years, the government did not hike tuition fees of medical courses in the state.
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