RTI: 10 K'taka Institutes Not Paying Stipends to Med Interns, NMC Silent

EVEN as the National Medical Commission (NMC) continues to ignore the issue of medical colleges not paying stipends to their interns, states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Gujarat top the list of having the most institutes out of the 60 in the country that are not paying any compensation, a series of RTIs have revealed.

- KAVITA BAJELI-DATT @New Delhi

Although 60 medical colleges—33 government institutes and 27 private colleges—do not pay stipends, another 50 pay nominal stipends of less than ₹5,000, some even ₹2,000.

An RTI filed by Dr. K.V. Babu has shown that as many as 10 of the 60 institutes not paying stipends are in Karnataka, which includes six government and four private medical colleges. Karnataka is followed by Gujarat (three government and four private medical colleges), Maharashtra (six government and one private college), and West Bengal (six government and one private college).