198 colleges mum on stipends get NMC show-cause

198 colleges mum on stipends get NMC show-cause

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesofindia.com  03.12.2024

New Delhi : National Medical Commission (NMC) has issued show-cause notices to 198 medical colleges — 115 govt and 83 private — across the country over non-submission of details of stipend paid to undergraduate interns, postgraduate residents and senior residents. All medical colleges were directed to submit to NMC the stipend paid for the financial year 2023-24 following a Supreme Court directive.

However, officials said, the 198 colleges that have been issued showcause notices failed to comply leading to the action. An online survey conducted by NMC last year revealed 27% of PG students are not paid any stipend by private/self-financed medical colleges. There are 54% PG students who receive less than the amount paid to their counterparts in govt-run medical colleges. More importantly, the survey conducted among 7,901 PG students from 213 self-financed/private medical colleges spread across 19 states revealed 16% PG students had to return the stipend money to college management. After this, NMC, the apex body for regulating medical education and pro fession, directed all self-financed and private medical colleges to pay stipend equal to the amount being paid to PG students of state or centre-run medical institutions in the state/UT where they are located, as per Regulation 13 of Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulation (PGMER), 2000.

“All the self-financed/ private medical colleges are warned that NMC will take strict action for noncompliance of the provisions of the Regulations of PGMER, 2000 if any complaint is received in future,” NMC said. All medical graduates pursuing PG courses are entitled to a stipend. AIIMS Delhi, for example, pays PG students close to Rs 95,000 per month as stipend. MBBS interns are paid close to Rs 26,000 per month.