NEW DELHI: The National Medical Commission (NMC) recently informed the Supreme Court that only seven medical colleges were found not paying stipends to MBBS interns and postgraduate resident doctors, despite reports that thousands of trainees across the country continue to receive little or no pay.
A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice P B Varale, was hearing a batch of petitions filed by MBBS interns and postgraduate resident doctors over the non-payment of stipends.
Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the petitioners, told the Supreme Court that stipend payments were not under dispute in 573 of the country's 756 undergraduate medical colleges. She also noted that 176 medical colleges had been established recently.
"Seven out of 756 medical colleges have not been paying stipends to interns, junior residents, or senior residents, and show-cause notices have been issued to them in this regard," Dubey added.
The submissions came after the Supreme Court -- hearing a petition filed in 2022 -- had pulled up the regulator for inaction and non-payment of stipends to MBBS interns and postgraduate resident doctors.
"One medical college has remained closed and there are no interns in the said college," another counsel for the NMC said.
He further submitted that 562 medical colleges offering postgraduate courses were paying stipends to interns, while two colleges did not have any interns, making the question of stipend payments in those institutions irrelevant.
He also submitted that NMC had initiated action against the seven colleges by issuing show-cause notices proposing penalties, and that further steps would be taken after their responses were received.
Taking all these submissions into record, the Court fixed the matter for final arguments in August.
Earlier, on July 11, 2025, the NMC had directed all the medical colleges to publicly disclose stipend details for MBBS interns and PG residents on their websites to ensure transparency. After review, it was found that these seven colleges had not provided the required information despite reminders. The NMC said such failure violates the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 and regulations including PGMER, 2023.
The NMC identified seven medical colleges -- four government-run and three private institutions -- that were not paying stipends. These colleges are located in Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The plea before the apex court alleged that almost 70% of medical colleges do not pay stipends to MBBS interns or pay less than prescribed. The Army College of Medical Sciences, Delhi, was cited as an example where 100 interns in one batch received no stipend.
