Supreme Court Issues Notice On Pleas Seeking Monthly Stipend For Foreign Medical Graduates At Govt Colleges In Kerala, AP
Category: Public & Regulatory
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BACKGROUND
The issue here is that Foreign Medical Graduates from few colleges in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh are not being given stipends like their equals during their internship period. Tanvi Dubey was the lawyer who represented the group of medical students and made applications on their behalf. The Court held that they cannot treat MBBS students and Foreign Medical Graduates differently and that it would constitute a violation of their fundamental rights by doing so. Therefore, the Court held that it is of extreme importance that the stipend be paid to the Foreign Medical Graduates and to get back on this issue with directives or else face consequences.
KEY ASPECTS
STIPEND
Several college students who are Foreign Medical Graduates complained about not getting their stipends during their period of internship whereas the students pursuing MBBS were receiving it, which led it to be a discrimination that cannot be tolerated by the Court of law.
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS
Non-payment of the stipends have made it a clear abuse of the fundamental rights of the Foreign Medical Graduates who are interning in India which is rejecting their right to equal treatment like their fellow MBBS students.
REFERENCE
The Court relied on the circulars issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) on March 4, 2022, and May 19, 2022, in which it had said that there must not be any discrimination between the Foreign Medical Graduates and the Indian medical graduates and both of them must be paid equally.
CONCLUSION
There was a clear violation of the fundamental rights of the Foreign Medical Graduates who were not receiving stipend during their internship period due to which it became difficult to maintain themselves and approached the court to uphold their rights to which the court directed the colleges to treat the Foreign Medical Graduates and Indian medical graduates equally and also held that the NMC had the power to regulate and make rule for the medical professionals in India in regards to their quality.
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WRITTEN BY: ADINA EVANGELINE G
GUIDED BY: ADVOCATE ANIK
