Good Morning: October 2023

Thursday, October 19, 2023

SC order opens door for fair stipend for MBBS interns in Kerala

Verdict will help medicos from other colleges to seek similar remedy.

Published: 18th October 2023 08:15 AM

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A Supreme Court verdict that forced a private medical college in Delhi to pay fair stipends to MBBS interns came as a shot in the arm for students in the state who have been voicing their concerns. The Army College of Medical Sciences in Delhi informed the court that they started paying Rs 25,000 each per month to all the 105 interns, to comply with the order.

The health activists have welcomed the development. According to them, the apex court verdict would help all medical interns from other colleges to seek similar remedy.

“It is the first time that a private medical college is correcting the stipend discrepancy. The right to stipend has been upheld by the court. It can be a reference for future litigations,” said Dr Babu K V, an RTI activist who supported the students in getting a favourable verdict.

The members of Medical Students Network (MSN), the student unit of Indian Medical Association (IMA), who have been fighting against the stipend disparity are thrilled at the development. “We had conducted extensive campaigns against the disparity without much success. Most of the students do not want to continue the fight as they are focused on completing the course without inviting trouble from the management. This verdict, however, gives hope,” said a medical student.

Despite stipends being a rightful part of clinical training, nearly 70% of medical colleges across the country do not pay stipends, or offer amounts well below the fixed stipend, the counsel for the petitioners informed the court. The situation in Kerala is no different as the students have come out against the wide disparity.

They complained that the stipends are decided by the college authorities and no college is paying stipends on a par with the government medical college. While the students in government medical colleges get around Rs 26,000, the stipends in private colleges vary between Rs 5,000 and Rs 15,000. A few colleges pay a stipend as low as Rs 1,500 after various deductions.

Dr Babu said the private medical colleges were not addressing the students’ complaints due to lax regulations.“Both NMC and its predecessor had a number of opportunities to bring parity regarding the stipend of MBBS interns. But they torpedoed a proper Graduate Medical Education Regulations for uniform stipend for MBBS interns,” he said.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

OCI cannot be admitted on a govt MBBS seat: High court

TNN | Oct 17, 2023, 11.05 AM IST

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Monday dismissed an appeal by a medical student, who holds an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, for admission to a medical course in the general category. The HC disposed of the appeal with the observation that an OCI cannot be equated to a citizen of India.

This case involved Vatsa Shah, a British passport holder. In 2019, he wanted admission to the MBBS course, but the admissions committee for professional undergraduate medical education courses denied him admission. Upon the HC’s direction, the student applied for admission under the NRI (Non-Resident Indian) quota and was granted admission and he is now to complete his studies.

The issue pending in this case was limited to whether an OCI can be admitted in the general category.

The student contended the government notification issued in 2017 treated OCI card holders on a par with NRIs so far as matters of education is concerned, and thus an OCI card holder was entitled to get admission in the general category.

The state government objected to this and submitted that the rules changed later and asserted that an OCI or an NRI cannot get admission on a government seat.