NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has, yet again, taken a U-turn over the issue of medical colleges and institutions not paying stipends to their interns and postgraduate scholars. In the latest notice issued July 11, the statutory body that regulates medical education, professionals, and research in India, said all medical institutions must submit the complete course-wise fee structure and details regarding stipend payment to MBBS interns, junior residents and senior residents, etc.The notice warned that non-compliance will result in the issuance of show-cause notices, financial penalties, withdrawal of course recognition, and suspension of admissions.The latest directions come four days after NMC put the onus first on colleges, and then the universities they are affiliated with, and finally the state for addressing the grievances of its students regarding various challenges they are facing, including the stipend issue.This newspaper has done a series of stories on the issue, one of the major demands of interns and PG students and also taken up by various resident doctors’ associations.The NMC notice, which contradicted itself in just four days on the issue, comes in the wake of the suspension of 64 MBBS interns of Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, a private medical college in Telangana, for a week following protests by the students over the non-payment of government-mandated stipends.Speaking with this paper, Kerala-based RTI activist, Dr K V Babu, described the latest notice as “mere eyewash.”“NMC has repeatedly responded to my RTI, stating that the responsibility to take action is with the state authorities. A public notice issued on July 8 put the onus on the college, the university and the state. The NMC lists 60 government and private medical colleges that have not paid their interns and PGs stipends. Fifty medical colleges have paid a nominal stipend only. What is it doing with that data?”“The NMC had issued a similar warning in November 2024. But no action was taken against the erring medical colleges. What is the purpose of reissuing the same public notice? Instead, the NMC should take action under the Maintenance of Standards of Medical Education Regulations (MSME), 2023,” Dr Babu said.
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