Supreme Court Ensures Fair Stipends for Foreign Medical Graduates

Taking note of the issue of some international medical graduates not receiving internship stipends, the Supreme Court ordered that these students should be treated equally with their Indian counterparts.

A two-judge panel made the statement while hearing a group of doctors' complaints that some medical universities do not pay stipends to foreign medical graduates during internships.

The bench on Monday directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to provide information on stipend payments to foreign medical graduates at three colleges: Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Vidisha, Dr Laxminarayan Pandey Government Medical College in Ratlam, and Employees State Insurance Corporation Medical College in Alwar.

The court emphasised the importance of stipend payments and warned the colleges that if they failed to comply with the earlier ruling, they would face severe consequences. "The medical colleges cannot treat MBBS and foreign medical graduates differently," the bench stated, ordering the NMC and medical institutions to produce additional information on the subject.

Previously, on January 23, the Supreme Court requested statements from both the NMC and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College following a petition filed by five foreign medical graduates.

The court further noted that the NMC and affiliated entities must ensure that such students receive a stipend for the duration of their internship in accordance with the regulations of other medical institutions.

These students are currently interning in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Vidisha