Rajasthan’s Foreign Medical Graduates Face Internship Crisis Over Stipend Dispute

Almost 100 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) in Rajasthan have an uncertain future since their compulsory internships at ESIC Medical College, Alwar stand paralysed due to stipend dispute, and insufficient internships seat issue. These aspiring doctors are in a dilemma regarding their eligibility of medical practice and continuation of higher studies in India due to this crisis.

The main issue is a conflict of rules and bureaucracies. The Rajasthan Medical Council (RMC) assigned internship posts to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) five months ago after the results of Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) were announced. But since they missed the June 15 deadline of joining they have not yet been allowed to start their clinical work yet their colleagues across other institutions are already serving in hospitals.

The Supreme Court has required every FMG to be stipend but National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines permit only 7.5% of the entire seats to be paid internships. Dr Asim Das, Dean of ESIC Hospital raised a question referring to this that, "This is a govt organisation where we are answerable for the audit. So, how do we differentiate the payment of the stipend? The Rajasthan government is saying give a stipend to 7.5% of FMG’s, but the question is which 7.5% out of the 100 FMG’S.” 

Das also stated that the number of internship seats in the ESIC Medical College is just 100 and the same number of Indian medical graduates are also competing to get these internship seats. This will lead to the direct conflict between 100 FMGs and 100 Indian medical graduates for 100 seats, as the competition of scarcely available opportunities is getting increasingly high.

According to FMGs, neither ESIC nor the RMC and the medical education department are considering their applications and thus they are moving around seeking solutions from one pillar to post.

The delay going on in Rajasthan’s Medical College could have severe consequences for these FMGs. Their chances of being registered to work in medicine, carry post graduate studies and being employed altogether will be delayed unless they have timely internships. Most affected graduates have shown distress and stated that urgent solutions should be given by the state to find a way forward as this stipend dispute needs to end.

This situation at Medical College in Rajasthan is underscoring the dire necessity of transparent and uniform rules about FMG internships and stipend allocation. Other medical experts and student organizations are pressuring the Rajasthan government, RMC and the ESIC Medical College so that the FMGs are not subjected to unequal treatments. This problem needs to be urgently settled not only because of the careers of these young doctors but also due to the healthcare system of the state, which also relies on the continuous supply of trained specialists.