A group of Indian doctors who studied medicine from foreign universities have approached the Supreme Court against the non-payment of stipends during their internships in India.
The petitioners led by Jaswant Singh, Mona Priyedarshiny and others are currently doing their internships at eight medical colleges in Rajasthan as well as Ram Manohar Lohia Medical College and Hospital in New Delhi.
They have knocked the doors of the apex court challenging the unjust and arbitrary act of the respondents -- Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital and others -- in holding back their stipends.
The top court's two-judge bench, led by Justice BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, recently sought the response of the Union government and the National Medical Commission (NMC) after hearing the petitions filed by the students.
The petitioners, represented by advocate Tanvi Dubey, said that "non payment of stipend is a clear violation of their fundamental rights, as the move discriminates between them and doctors educated in India."
They have also submitted in their plea that if a few other colleges are paying stipends to medical graduates from foreign universities, why are they being discriminated against.
Urging the top court to pass appropriate directions to the concerned colleges for getting their stipends, the petitioners also mentioned that there should be no discrimination between medical graduates from Indian and foreign universities.
"They were earlier under the presumption that they will be paid stipends for the period of their internships. However, they are shocked to note that when they join the internship, they are forced to give an undertaking on an affidavit that the internship will be without any stipend. It is a Catch-22 situation for the students as they had no other option but to sign that undertaking," the plea said.
It further said that while joining the internships, they had no idea that they will have to incur huge daily expenses including accommodation, travelling etc. They were surprised to note that even the expenses involved in rural postings was required to be incurred by them.
The group of doctors further said that as per the duty roster, the duty hours are similar to MBBS interns. It is pertinent to note that MBBS interns from Indian universities in Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital are getting stipends, as per the regulations.