SC Seeks NMC Reply on Stipend Disparity
The court warned that the state secretary would be summoned if its direction was not complied with.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the National Medical Commission to file an affidavit explaining why some medical colleges were not paying stipends to foreign medical graduates.
A bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi also directed the Rajasthan government to disburse the stipends within two weeks.
The court warned that the state secretary would be summoned if its direction was not complied with.
Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the petitioners, submitted a chart showing that some colleges were not paying any stipend to foreign medical graduates.
She said an NMC circular required parity between Indian and foreign medical graduates. Despite this, she said, several states did not provide equal stipends even though Indian and foreign graduates performed the same duties and worked the same hours.
The court posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
The NMC had earlier informed the court that seven of the country’s 756 medical colleges were not paying stipends to interns, junior residents or senior residents and that show-cause notices had been issued to them.
The court was hearing a petition filed by medical graduate Abhishek Yadav and others over the payment of stipends to medical students.
It had previously noted that although a September 2023 order mandated payment of a monthly stipend of Rs 25,000 to interns from October 2023, the preceding batch had not been compensated.