The Supreme Court on Friday, September 15, asked the National Medical Commission (NMC), to address the allegations that 70 per cent of medical colleges in the country are not paying the mandatory stipend to MBBS interns, as per PTI reports.
The court also directed Delhi's Army College of Medical Sciences to pay Rs 25,000 as a stipend to its MBBS interns from October 1, 2023.
The bench comprised of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, asked the apex governing body of medical education in India, to file a comprehensive report with details about the claim of petitioners that 70 per cent of medical colleges do not pay any stipend to MBBS interns and what are the measures that have been taken to ensure payment of stipend to them as per the regulations.
The counsel for the students, Advocate Vaibhav Gagghar, said that a recent report released by the NMC states that 70 per cent of the medical colleges in the country are not paying stipends to their interns.
The bench ruled that NMC's counsel Advocate Gaurav Sharma is to respond to the claim and file an affidavit giving a tabulated chart of colleges which are paying the stipend to the interns and which are not paying.
The court also mentioned that NMC's mandate cannot be breached and interns who come from different backgrounds, are required to be paid a stipend for the entire period of internship.
What was the plea?
The Supreme Court was hearing a plea of five MBBS students who are pursuing their medical education from Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS) established by Army Welfare Education Society (AWES) and affiliated to Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, and were seeking stipend for their internship.
Senior advocate R Balasubramanium, appearing for the ACMS, said the college has nothing to do with the Army, and has not been receiving any aid from the defence ministry and is run by the AWES, on a no-profit basis with the intention of serving the children of armed personnel.
The Chief Justice of India Chandrachud argued against the statement and questioned Balasubramanium, if they can deny paying the sanitation workers as they are a non-profit school.
The senior lawyer argued on the points of sustenance of the college as he said that the survival of the college needs to be considered and informed that the state fee regulatory commission of Delhi has reduced the fees of the college from Rs 4,32,000 to 3,20,000.
The decision
The bench, after much consideration and comparing different amounts of stipend paid by other medical colleges, directed the ACMS to start paying Rs 25,000 per month from October 1 to its interns.
The bench also took into account the college's plea as they are being run by a welfare society for the children of Army personnel, hence the bench gave the institution some liberty to approach the Fee Regulatory Committee in Delhi with a representation of the likely financial impact of the court's directions.
It further said that the fee regulatory committee shall come to a conclusion if enhancement of fees of students of the college is necessary to meet the additional expenditure on account of payment of stipend.
