The Supreme Court has said that those who have done MBBS from abroad cannot be treated differently and they should be given the same stipend during internship as their colleagues who have done MBBS from Indian colleges. A bench of Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Prasanna Bhalchandra Varale took cognizance of the arguments of advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for some doctors, that foreign medical graduates are not being given stipend during their internship in some medical colleges. The bench on Monday sought from the National Medical Commission (NMC) details of three colleges regarding payment of stipend to foreign medical graduates. These colleges include Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Vidisha; Dr. Lakshminarayan Pandey Government Medical College, Ratlam and Employees' State Insurance Corporation Medical College, Alwar.
The court said it was paramount that the stipend be paid and warned the colleges that strict action would be taken if its earlier order on payment of stipend was not followed. “Medical colleges cannot treat MBBS students and students doing medical graduation from abroad separately,” the bench said.
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Earlier, on January 23, the Supreme Court had sought response from both the NMC and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College after a petition was filed by five foreign medical graduates. The court also said that the NMC and concerned bodies should ensure that such students receive stipend during the entire internship period while following the guidelines of other medical colleges. These students are currently doing internship at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College, Vidisha.
It is noteworthy that due to less MBBS seats in India, every year thousands of Indian students go to countries like China, Ukraine, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Bangladesh to study medicine. To get a license to practice medicine in India, they not only have to appear for the FMGE exam but also have to do internship in the hospitals of the country. The young doctor had reached the court complaining of not getting stipend during internship.