As per an online survey by the National Medical Commission (NMC), more than one-fourth of postgraduate (PG) students in private medical colleges have said that they are not receiving stipends.
The commission released an advisory on Thursday, August 24, directing all self-financed medical colleges to provide stipends to postgraduate medical students that are at par with the remuneration being paid to the PG students of government medical institutions in the state in which the institution is located.
“All the Self-financed/Private Medical Colleges are directed to implement the above mentioned Regulation 13 of the PGMER, 2000. All the Self-Financed/ Private Medical Colleges are warned that NMC will take strict action for non-compliance of the provisions of the Regulations of PGMER, 2000 if any complaint is received in future,” the advisory by Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB), NMC, read.
Survey findings
The survey, which was conducted via Google Forms, received a total of 10,178 responses from PG medical students and out of these, 7,901 responses were from PG students from private medical colleges and were considered for the analysis.
These responses were from PG students from 213 colleges in 19 states and two UTs. The responses revealed that a total of 2,110 PG students from various private medical colleges across the country gave feedback that they are not receiving stipends.
Moreover, 4,288 of the survey takers responded that the stipend being paid to them is not equal to the stipend being paid in the government medical colleges in their states.
As many as 1,228 students even informed that the stipend given by the colleges was being taken back by management.
Medicos react
This advisory has come after backlash from several medical students and associations who highlighted the disparity between stipends received by government and private medical institutes.
Medical associations expressed that this is a long-awaited move by the commission.
“NMC has always been very clear about the PG stipends and has mentioned that private colleges should give stipends at par with the government medical colleges in their state. But this is not the case with most private colleges as we keep receiving complaints from the students. We have raised the issue with institutes as well as NMC in the past. This is a good move by NMC as it holds the private institutions accountable,” expressed Aviral Mathur, President, Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA).
The doctors added that in states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana, a few private institutions have been taking back the remuneration from the students each month.
“Students have complained that they are being intimidated by the college management so they are not able to expose the scam. This survey being anonymous was able to bring forward a few such cases and is really appreciable. We hope that in future, if this continues, NMC will take strict actions against the colleges and there are no more loopholes,” said Vice-President of the United Doctors' Front Association (UDFA).
The Post Graduate Medical Education Regulation, 2000 (PGMER) by NMC directs all private medical colleges in India to provide monthly stipends to PG medical students at par with government medical colleges in the state.
