Sixty medical colleges in the country, out of the 555 institutions which provided data to the Under Graduate Medical Education Board (UGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC), are not giving stipends to their students.

There are over 700 medical colleges in India. Of them, 290 in the government sector and 265 in the private sector provided data to the authorities. Among them, 33 government medical colleges and 27 private medical colleges are not giving stipends to the students. These details were part of the file notings of the UGMEB dated July 29, 2024, made available through an RTI query by Kannur-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu. As per the NMC’s regulations, both undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students are eligible for stipends.

The NMC had earlier issued show-cause notices on November 28, 2024, to 115 government medical colleges and 83 private medical colleges for not providing information on the payment of stipends to UG and PG students. The data from these colleges were not immediately available as their response to the notices is being evaluated.

Meanwhile, the commission has also clarified that it was up to the State authorities to see if any action has to be taken against institutions which fail to comply with the regulations.

In another RTI reply to Dr. Babu on February 18, the commission said that the “NMC is the regulatory body which issues guidelines, regulations from time to time”. “The implementation of the guidelines /instruction/advisory is solely at the discretion of the concerned State authorities under which the medical college/institute is located.” However, the commission, in 2023, had warned of action against those who fail to provide stipends to PG medical students.

“The regulations gazetted by the NMC in September 2023 clearly state that monetary penalties up to ₹1 crore can be imposed for non-compliance of the regulations. The commission can even withhold accreditation for a period of five years,” Dr. Babu pointed out.