Supreme Court Steps In: Stipend Row for Foreign Medical Graduates in Gujarat

Image Source: Internet

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea filed by the All India Parents Association Belarus Medical Students, seeking stipends for foreign medical graduates who are undergoing internships in Gujarat. The court issued notices to the National Medical Commission, the Gujarat government, and others, asking for their responses. The plea, which was filed through advocate Tanvi Dubey, claims that the non-payment of stipend violates statutory obligations and exacerbates the economic vulnerability of foreign medical graduates. These students have already spent 4-6 years on their medical education and are now facing difficulties in their internships due to the lack of stipend. The petition highlights that the provision for stipend is governed by Clause 3 of the National Medical Commission Regulations, 2021, and that the NMC has issued circulars in 2022 and 2023 reiterating that foreign medical graduates are entitled to a stipend at par with Indian medical graduates. The plea also mentions that foreign medical graduates are incurring all expenses, including food, accommodation, and travel, on their own account without any stipend. This has created a catch-22 situation for them, as they have no other option but to continue their internships on their own expenses. The petitioner association had previously addressed a detailed representation to the state authority, highlighting the denial of stipend and coercion into signing undertakings not to claim stipend. Subsequent representations were also made to the chief minister in April, but no remedial action has been taken by the concerned authorities. The plea is seeking a direction to the authorities to provide a regular monthly stipend for the entire period of their internship with retrospective effect to the foreign medical graduates interning in colleges under the Gujarat Medical Council and the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society.