The Health Ministry has directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) to examine a key provision of internship regulations to ensure that all undergraduate medical interns, whether studying in government or private medical colleges, receive the same stipend.
The directive comes three years after the NMC introduced the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) Regulations, 2021, which states that “all interns shall be paid stipend as fixed by the appropriate authority applicable to the institution/University or State.”
The clause, however, contradicts the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations (PGMER), 2023, which clearly mandates equal stipends for all interns, regardless of the type of institution.
The issue of stipend disparity has long been a point of contention among medical interns, particularly those in private medical colleges who often receive less pay, or none at all, despite working the same hours as their peers in government institutions. Government medical colleges typically offer salaries ranging from Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month.
Resident doctors’ associations, such as FAIMA and FORDA, have repeatedly called for uniform pay across institutions. With the ministry’s directive, there is renewed hope for thousands of interns who have been demanding parity for years.
In a letter dated November 6 to NMC Secretary Raghav Langer, the Health Ministry stated, “Since NMC has been mandated to frame regulations under NMC Act, 2019, you are requested to examine the issue raised by Dr. Babu KV regarding provision of stipend paid to undergraduate interns in CRMI Regulations, 2021, keeping in view similar provisions under PGMER, 2023.”
Kerala-based RTI activist and doctor, Dr KV Babu, who has been pursuing the matter since 2021, welcomed the ministry’s intervention. “After a gap of three years, the government has recommended to NMC to amend the CRMI regulations, incorporating the same stipend for those in government and private medical colleges,” he said.
“This is an important victory for medicos who have been campaigning for the same for years.” “The NMC will have to amend the CRMI regulations, incorporating stipend parity for both private medical colleges,” he said.
