State govt orders private medical colleges to pay stipend as per rules

Maharashtra private medical colleges instructed to pay interns ₹18,000 monthly stipend as per government rules, following NMC guideline. Students seek equal pay with government hospitals.

Mumbai: The Maharashtra government’s Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has instructed all private medical colleges in the state to pay interns a monthly stipend of ₹18,000 as per government regulations. DMER has also demanded a report on stipends from every college.

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This follows a guideline from the National Medical Commission (NMC) which states that all interns must receive stipends as determined by the relevant authority for their institution, university, or state.

DMER issued the directive after 13 medical students approached the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court, seeking stipends equivalent to those given in government hospitals. The students highlighted that there is no fixed stipend amount for interns at private colleges and hospitals, despite the state government’s February directive that interns at government-run institutes should be paid ₹18,000.

The petitioners, who are completing their year-long compulsory rotatory residential internship at a private hospital in Nagpur, claimed they receive a monthly stipend of only ₹4,000, compared with ₹18,000 paid to their peers in government colleges. They also alleged that their institute reported to the fee regulating authority an allocation of ₹5,454 for stipends, but they have only received ₹1,467 so far.

In Mumbai, private colleges pay stipends of ₹6,000- ₹11,000 to interns. “In such a small amount, it is very difficult to survive in a city like Mumbai,” said a student.

The students’ plea references an interim Supreme Court order from October 2023, which directed the Army College of Medical Sciences in New Delhi to pay its MBBS interns ₹25,000 per month. It also cites a 2021 NMC regulation requiring all interns to be paid stipends set by the appropriate fee fixation authority for their institution, university, or state.

Dilip Mhaisekar, director of DMER, said, “If we receive any written complaint from students that they are not receiving stipends as per rules, we will act accordingly.”