Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) in Rajasthan staged a protest at the state’s Directorate of Medical Education (DME) office in Jaipur, today, August 5, against non-payment of stipends to intern doctors.

To recall, the Supreme Court of India had, in April this year, directed medical colleges to provide internship stipends to foreign medical graduates on par with their Indian counterparts.

However, FMGs in Rajasthan highlighted that despite the order by the apex court, FMG interns in the state have not been receiving any stipend for the last year.

Dr Rohit Yaduvanshi, an FMG from Rajasthan, informed, “After the protest today, we met officials at DME. We were told to take the matter to the state government instead. Now, we are planning to contact local MLAs and urge them to raise our issue in the Vidhan Sabha session.”

Medical associations have also extended support to the intern doctors’ protest in Rajasthan.

Dr Apurv Dalvi, National Convenor and Former State Convenor for Maharashtra, All India Medical Students Association - Foreign Medical Students Wing (AIMSA-FMSW), said, “On behalf of AIMSA, we extend our support to the protest held today at DME Rajasthan. Despite directions from the Supreme Court as well as guidelines by the National Medical Commission (NMC), the interns are still not getting stipends in the state.”