New Delhi/Shimla: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has finally called out 198 medical colleges—115 government-run and 83 private—for failing to submit stipend details for interns, postgraduates, and senior residents. Three medical colleges are from Himachal as well.
The show-cause notice (Ref. CDN-20011/98/2024/Coordination-NMC), issued on November 28, 2024, has shaken up the medical education system.
NMC’s Show-Cause Notice Sends Shockwaves Across Medical Colleges.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has pulled up 198 medical colleges, including RPGMC Tanda, GMC Nahan, and MMM Medical College Kumarhatti in Solan, for failing to submit stipend details for interns, postgraduates, and senior residents.
Four government medical colleges are in Haryana, three in Punjab(GGS Medical college Faridkot, Dr BRA medical college Mohali, GMC Amritsar one from Almora medical college Uttarakhand. The highest 12 each are from Rajasthan and Telengana.
Among the private colleges highest defaulters are also from Karnataka(10) Rajasthan, Telengana(13) and Maharashtra(9).
The November 28 notice has given these institutions just three days to furnish reports for 2023-24 or face severe action.
The crackdown also targets five colleges in Jammu and Kashmir(UT), exposing widespread non-compliance despite repeated directives from the Supreme Court and NMC.
These colleges have ignored mandates to upload monthly stipend updates and submit annual data
Doctors' associations have welcomed the move, but erring colleges are scrambling to respond.
“Stipends are a right, not a privilege,” said Dr. Lakshya Mittal of UDF. Calls for surprise inspections and penalties, including Loss of Permission (LoP), are growing louder.
This bold step by NMC aims to end exploitative practices, where some colleges pay stipends nominally but claw them back through unethical means.
For the working medical fraternity, this is a long-awaited relief.
But for erring governments and private college managements, it’s sheer panic. Doctors’ bodies are now demanding stricter action to end the exploitation.
The notice is no empty threat. The NMC has made it clear—submit stipend details or face the heat. Penalties, warnings, and potential cancellations of permissions loom large over defaulters.
Yet, a darker reality lurks beneath.
Reports reveal that some institutions pay stipends on paper but later claw them back through shady practices.
This brazen exploitation is a betrayal of the very students who keep the healthcare system afloat.
Dr. Lakshya Mittal, National President of the United Doctors Front (UDF), called the move a “game-changer.” He said, “Stipends are not charity—they’re a right.
The NMC has taken a strong first step. But this won’t end without surprise inspections and LoP cancellations for violators.”
Doctors’ associations across the country have echoed his sentiments. They’re demanding nothing less than exemplary punishment for those flouting stipend norms.
The pressure is mounting, and colleges are scrambling to cover their tracks.
With the NMC finally taking charge, the days of ignoring stipend irregularities might be over.
The question now is simple: will the NMC follow through and hold these institutions accountable?
One thing is clear. India’s doctors won’t settle for anything less than justice, said the doctors.
The system needs a shake-up, and this could be the beginning of the end for exploitative practices in medical education.
