Maharashtra Raises Monthly Stipend For Government Medical Colleges Interns

The monthly stipend for doctors interning with Government Medical Colleges in Maharashtra has been increased to Rs 18,000 a month from its earlier Rs 11,000. The decision will come into force from February 2024.

Foreign medical graduates (FMGs) who have practically finished their MBBS outside of India and who will intern in GMCs in Maharashtra upon their return would also be eligible for this salary hike.

The demands of higher stipends have been for long from doctors, who said that Maharashtra paid the lowest stipends. Reacting to the hikes in stipend, the Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) in Maharashtra President informed that in other states such as Karnataka and Assam, the monthly stipend is Rs 30,000 which is much above even the raised one. But now by announcing the current increment, Maharashtra remained not the lowest payer to its interns.

The medical interns were demanding Rs 22,000 a month but the government only agreed for the Rs 18,000 per month after the demands were made out for an entire year, informs the ASMI president.

In central universities, the amount of internship paid is much higher. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has mandated that MBBS interns at Central government institutes receive a monthly salary of Rs 30,070, as per an office letter released by the institute on September 5, 2023.

Earlier, the University Grants Commission declared its intention to raise the intern physician salary from Rs 23,500 to Rs 26,300 per month in central university hospitals and medical and dental schools. UGC made this decision in compliance with a directive from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which had already raised the MBBS intern salary at Central government hospitals and institutions.

Notably, the monthly stipend for the MBBS interns belonging to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi has also been increased to Rs 30,070 per month.