Supreme Court order to pay equal stipend for foreign and Indian medical graduates

The Supreme Court of India has notified that foreign medical graduates must receive equal stipends during their internships in India, ruling out any discrimination. The court highlighted the need to reevaluate the prevailing attitude towards Foreign Medical Graduates across the country.

This verdict came in response to a petition filed by a group of doctors highlighting the disparity in stipend payments for foreign medical graduates during their internships in some medical colleges.

A two-judge bench issued a directive ensuring equal payment for both Indian and foreign medical students during their internships, urging the National Medical Committee (NMC) to take prompt measures to enforce this mandate on stipend payments.

In particular, the bench called for an audit of stipend practices at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Medical College in Vidisha, Employees State Insurance Corporation Medical College in Alwar, and Dr. Laxminarayan Pandey Government Medical College in Ratlam.

The bench underscored the importance of parity in stipend payments and warned of stringent actions against institutions failing to adhere to the court's ruling. The medical colleges cannot treat MBBS and foreign medical graduates differently and asked the NMC and the medical colleges to look into it.