Foreign Medical Graduates Call Off Strike at ESIC Bihta After Stipend Assurance

After assurance from the college authorities regarding the pending stipends, foreign medical graduates (FMGs) at the ESIC Medical College and Hospital in Bihta, Bihar, ended their indefinite strike. The strike, which began on Tuesday morning, involved 96 interns who are doing their compulsory MBBS internship at the institute.

Most of the protesting interns have completed their medical degrees from countries like Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Armenia, and Ukraine. After they became members of the college on June 15, they have not been given their monthly stipments despite the administration's repeated assurance. The communication from the office of the President said the interns are to be paid 20, 000 per month, which is to be changed to 27, 000 from September 2025. The protest resulted in the suspension of outpatient department (OPD) services and other hospital activities and was only the second such demonstration in two months over the nonpayment of stipends. During the agitation, the interns said they were very angry because the administration had only issued notices but no explanation had been given for the delay.

Dr. Binay Kumar Biswas, Dean of ESIC Medical College, in a notice dated December 30, communicated that the delayed stipends would be credited "by mid, January 2026 at the earliest and by mid, February 2026 at the latest." The notice delineated the process of sanctioning the funds but did not pinpoint any reasons for the delay. "The ESIC, HQ has given the most clear, cut and detailed communication to the status of sanction and institute authority, summing up the earliest possible credit date as mid, Jan 2026 and latest by mid Feb 2026. Reasons behind and steps involved have been explained, " the notice quoted, leaving some interns still not satisfied with the explanation of the delay. After the dean's intervention on Wednesday, the interns were summoned to the conference hall. There they were informed that their internship period might be extended if they continued their strike. They were also warned not to disrupt hospital services again, as police action might be taken if they continued to agitate. After negotiations with the administration and heads of various departments, the FMG interns decided to call off their strike and return to work.

Since passing their licensing exams in January 2025, these foreign, trained doctors have been undergoing the mandatory one, year internship to practice in India. The resolution to the issue provided relief to hospital operations right away, but the frequent delays in the payment of stipends for FMG interns indicate that there are still systemic administrative issues in the management of FMG internships. Biswas was unavailable when we tried to reach out to him for his comments. The resolution, in essence, underlines the delicate balance that exists between the management of the hospital and the rights of interns, particularly those medical graduates who have come from abroad and are, on the one hand, benefitting the healthcare system of India and, on the other, facing uncertainties in regulations and finance.