Foreign Medical Graduate interns at ESICMCH in Patna wait for stipend for over eight months

The last payment of the internship of FMG interns was made in July last year.

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PATNA: Over 128 Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) interns -- 102 men and 26 women working at Employment State Insurance Corporation Medical College and Hospital (ESICMCH) at Bihta in Patna are waiting for promised stipend for the last eight months.

They have sought the intervention of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya and LoP in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, for early payment of their stipend.

The FMG interns hope that Rahul Gandhi, who is scheduled to visit Patna on April 7 to attend ‘Samvidhan Suraksha Sammelan’, will raise the issue of nonpayment of stipend.

“Since our institution is an autonomous body of the Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, Rahul raising the issue matters,” said an FMG intern.

The last payment for the internship of FMG interns was made in July last year.

Each FMG intern gets Rs. 3 lakh per year (which comes around Rs. 30,070 per month) as internship.

“You can imagine the plight of the interns to not receive the payment for the last eight months. We have to 'arrange' to meet the expenses,” said Ankesh, one of the FMG interns.

FMG interns work for more than eight hours a day. At times, they have to work for more than 12 hours during night shifts.

"If you work for more than 12 hours a day and don’t get payment (internship) on time, for how long can one survive?” asked another FMG intern, requesting anonymity.

Most of the PGM interns said that they have borrowed money from their relatives and acquaintances who at times mock economic condition despite completing medical education from abroad.

“Asking for monetary help from somebody hurts our feelings,” said Balram Kumar.

The families of FMG interns have spent more than 30 lakh on their education from medical colleges in foreign countries like Russia and Kyrgyzstan.

They joined ESIC hoping that they would get paid on time, but they have to wait for months.

Dean of ESIC Medical College and Hospital Dr Binay Kumar Biswas said that the interns were never promised a stipend. “Interns are levelling false allegations against the ESIC Medical College and Hospital authorities,” he added.

He claimed that the FMG interns had submitted to the authorities concerned at the time of joining that stipend would only be provided in cash if such decision or order are available from the Institute.

He, however, hastened to add that the matter is under process. “A final decision will be taken very soon,” he told.