Formulate policy to ensure pay parity to medical interns: Rajya Sabha MP

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam writes to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, said stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. Therefore, it is essential to maintain parity and equity across all medical institutions. 

Rajya Sabha MP Binoy Viswam has written a letter to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya urging him to make sure that medical students in private and government medical colleges across the country are paid equally during internships. 

As per a report published in The Hindu, in the letter, Viswam wrote that the National Medical Commission’s Draft Regulations on Compulsory Rotating Internship, 2021, issued on April 21 and gazetted on November 18, had said that all interns shall be paid stipend “as fixed by the appropriate fee fixation authority as applicable to the institution/university/state”. 

“The phrasing of this provision allowed for great ambiguity and arbitrariness. It may also result in management of private colleges denying stipend to the interns as they have complete discretion without any safeguarding mechanism. The ramifications of the same are already being seen in colleges across the country as great variance exists in stipend amounts being paid in government colleges as opposed to private colleges,” he said.  

Viswam said medical field was a highly specialised field that required individuals to dedicate their lives in the service of others. “As part of medical professionals’ education and training, they are necessitated to undertake internships across various settings. In this context, a stipend is paid as a matter of right and not charity. It is therefore essential that parity and equity be maintained across all medical institutions, whether run by private bodies or by the government,” he said.  

The MP requested the minister to consult with state governments, medical college managements, medical professionals, and students to formulate a policy that ensures equity among medical students. 

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