Nmc: Some resident docs paid just ₹14,000 a month: NMC | India News

NEW DELHI: A full-fledged doctor who is training to be a specialist by doing post-graduation can be paid as little as Rs 14,000, depending on which college the doctor manages to get a seat in, shows NMC data. Stipends paid to resident doctors, the backbone of any medical institution,can vary widely between states and between government and private colleges within the same state.

Very few private medical colleges pay the same stipend as government medical colleges in the same state, as required by regulations. The stipend amount also varies depending on the speciality in several private colleges.
According to data submitted by colleges to the National Medical Commission (NMC) on students admitted through NEET PG 2022 and uploaded on the commission’s website, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Punjab, in that order, have the highest difference between the stipend paid in government and private medical colleges. Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Gujarat are the only states where private colleges pay as much stipend as is paid in government colleges. There are many states where there are no private medical colleges with PG seats yet, as many of these colleges were started only in the last few years.

Other than central government-run institutions, the highest stipend is paid in ESI medical colleges across India, which were built with the money collected from the wages of workers. The average stipend is about Rs 1. 2lakh per month. Even government colleges in different states pay very different stipend amounts, though within the same state they are almost identical.
The four colleges which pay the least stipend, below Rs 20,000, are Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences in Barabanki, UP (Rs 14,000), East Point College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Bengaluru (Rs 15,000), Adesh Institute of Medical Sciences & Research in Bhatinda, Punjab (Rs 15,600) and Prasad Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow, UP (Rs 18,000).
On average, Uttar Pradesh pays the second highest stipend in the country, of Rs 97,000. However, the Mayo medical college pays just Rs 2,000 more than the minimum wages for skilled labour in UP. A simple calculation would show that with 34 PG seats that means a saving of at least Rs 3 crore every year by underpaying PG residents. The college charges almost half a crore or more for a three-year post-graduate course depending on the specialty. Adesh Medical College in Bhatinda is almost as expensive.
The MCI, in its Post-graduate Medical Education Regulations 2000 (Amended up to July 2013) with regard to payment of stipend, stipulated that post-graduate students “shall be paid on par with the stipend being paid to the PG students of state or central government medical institutions in the state or union territory where the institution is located”.
The NMC, too, in its draft PGME Regulations of October 2021, emphasises that all institutions, “including private institutions”, shall pay the same as state or central government institutions. It goes on to state that “heavy penalty shall be levied on institutions for any violation of this clause as per penalty regulations of the NMC”.
Interestingly, despite this data about many private medical colleges underpaying PG students being available with the NMC, no action seems to have been initiated against them.