“Pay interns or don’t have internships”: SC to Medical Colleges

The SC bench was hearing a petition from MBBS students from the Army College of Medical Sciences, who claim that they haven’t been paid their stipends for their internship

The Supreme Court questioned why colleges charge crores of fees when they are not paying interns their stipends on Monday, February 26.

These remarks were made by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and Prasanna B Varale while hearing a writ petition filed by students who have completed their MBBS from the Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS).

The petitioners argue that they have not received their stipends for their internship, which they completed on March 31, 2023.

Expressing his discontent with the interns’ situation, Justice Dhulia even stated that either the colleges pay them, or don’t have internships.

One of the petitioners, Dr Abhishek Yadav said that their counsel Advocate Tanvi Dubey also raised the concerns of MBBS students of ACMS from the 2018 batch, who started receiving their stipends only in October 2023, despite starting their internship in April.

In an earlier hearing of a series of petitions that claimed that 70 per cent of medical colleges do not pay their interns stipends on September 15, a bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud directed the National Medical Commission to respond to the complaint.

The bench also heard the ACMS petition and directed the college to pay its medical interns a stipend of Rs 25,000 per month.

However, at today’s hearing, Senior Advocate Colonel (Retired) R Balasubramanium, counsel for ACWS emphasised that the college is run by the Army Welfare Education Society, and is listed under the Societies Registration Act. He added that the college does not receive any aid from the government, LiveLaw reports.

Counsel for the petitioners also pointed out that the NMC is yet to fulfil the SC’s order to submit a tabulated chart and explain whether the claim in the complaints is true, as well as the steps taken by the commission to ensure that colleges comply with the norm of paying internship stipends.

According to an earlier report by EdexLive, Dr Abhishek and the petitioners approached the Supreme Court last year as a last resort. Prior to that, they approached governing bodies like the NMC, former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, and the AWES, but to no avail.

“The matter is listed to be heard after four weeks, and the case of the batch of 2018 MBBS students will be heard at the hearing,” Dr Abhishek further revealed.

“Pay interns or don’t have internships”: SC to Medical Colleges