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The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by CJI Chandrachud, directed the Army College of Medical Sciences (ACMS) to pay monthly stipend to all the medical interns and comply with clause 3 of schedule IV of the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations 2021 which mandates the payment of stipend to all the interns. The issue came up before the court on a complaint which mentioned a point that 70 percent of the medical colleges either do not pay any stipend or pay any amount lower than the minimum set stipend to doctors who interning in those colleges. Upon receiving the complaint, the court has asked the National Medical Commission to inform whether the said allegation is true and if this question is in affirmative then what steps are being taken by the NMC to ensure compliance with the 2021 regulations.
In the present case, the counsel for ACMS contended that they are a non-profit educational society and the fees for medical education are set by the State Fee Regulatory Committee which has reduced the current year fee from 4,32,000 to 3,20,500 and therefore, is not in a state to pay stipend to all the MBBS students interning in their college. In response to this contention, the court granted ACMS the permission to approach the State Fee Regulatory Committee with a statement of likely financial impact which the college may have to bear upon the payment of stipend. The State Fee Regulatory Committee is directed by the court to determine whether any increase in the fees would be indispensable to meet the requirements of the payment of stipend. The bench finally directed the ACMS to pay Rs. 25,000 per month to their medical interns as a stipend.
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