SC castigates NMC on stipend issue

With National Medical Commission (NMC) failing to ensure that all private medical colleges and deemed universities pay stipend to MBBS interns, Supreme Court (SC) directed the Union health secretary to ensure that NMC collects details of charges imposed by these institutions and the stipend they pay.

SC, in an order last week, said it expected the commission "to wake up from slumber" and directed it to file a comprehensive compliance affidavit within two weeks.Over two years after SC said non-payment of stipend to MBBS interns was akin to bonded labour, not only has NMC failed to ensure payment, it has failed to even produce a list of medical colleges with details of how much they paid as stipend or penalise colleges not paying stipend, as it has been threatening to do.In July, NMC had issued a public notice directing colleges to submit the complete course-wise fee structure and details of stipend payment to MBBS interns/junior residents/senior residents etc, tuition fees, hostel charges, caution deposits and all miscellaneous charges. NMC had threatened to act against the colleges, including issuing show-cause notices, imposing financial penalties, withdrawing course recognition and suspending admissions, if they failed to comply.

A few days before the July 11 public notice, NMC had issued another notice, pushing the onus of addressing grievances of medical students onto colleges, universities and directorates of medical education at the state level. Before the sudden move to shift responsibility and the U-turn soon after, NMC had issued notices to colleges thrice in 2024, threatening action. However, with no action being taken, colleges clearly have not taken the threats seriously.SC observed that NMC "seems to be dragging its feet without having any serious concern" and added, "We are forced to make this observation as no action seems to have been taken against erring institutions. We hope and trust that NMC would wake up from its slumber and take appropriate steps as indicated in its July 11 notice at least by the next date of hearing".On Sept 15, 2023, SC had asked NMC to submit an affidavit with a tabulated chart detailing the stipend status across all medical colleges in India. However, NMC failed to do so by the subsequent hearing on April 1, 2024, which made the court reiterate the direction. Till the last hearing on Oct 28, NMC had failed to furnish this information.