Foreign medical grads call off strike after stipend assurance

Bihar's foreign medical graduates ended their strike after assurances of pending stipends by February 2026, following disruptions in hospital services.

Around 96 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) from Bihar, undergoing their MBBS internship at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Bihta, called off their indefinite strike on the second day Wednesday after the college authorities assured them that their pending stipend would be credited by February next year, the protesting interns said.

Foreign medical grads call off strike after stipend assurance

Most of the striking FMGs had completed their MBBS from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Armenia and Ukraine.

The interns had stopped work from Tuesday morning, disrupting outpatient department (OPD) and related hospital services. This was the second strike in the past two months by the FMGs over non-payment of stipend.

The interns said they were assured through a notice dated December 30, issued by ESIC Medical College dean Dr Binay Kumar Biswas, that the stipend would be credited by mid-January 2026 at the earliest and by mid-February 2026 at the latest. However, the notice did not clearly specify the reason for the delay in disbursement.

“...the issue of delayed release of stipend has come under due deliberation and its possible time of sanction, release followed by disbursement from institute authority have also been discussed. The ESIC-HQ has explicitly expressed the status of sanction and institute authority, by summarising and clarifying it further, has narrated that the earliest possible date for crediting is mid–Jan, 26 and latest by mid-Feb, 26. Reasons behind and steps involved have been well explained,” the dean’s notice said, leaving the medicos in the dark about the delay in disbursement of their stipend.

Following their first strike last month, the dean had, in a notice dated November 17, assured that the issue would be resolved by December 31, 2025.

On Wednesday, the dean reportedly called the agitating interns to the conference hall and warned them that the duration of their internship could be extended for the period of the strike. He also cautioned them against disrupting hospital services, threatening police action if the agitation continued.

After discussions with the college authorities, including heads of various departments, the FMG interns decided to withdraw their indefinite strike and resume duty.

Attempts to contact Dr Biswas for comments were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to phone calls, text messages or an email sent by this reporter at 4.54 pm on Wednesday till the filing of this report at 6.20 pm.

The FMGs had cleared their licensing exam in January and joined the ESIC medical college on June 15 to complete their one-year MBBS internship, a prerequisite before they can practice in India.