MCI takes on Private medical colleges for non payment of stipends

Hyderabad:Private Medical Colleges offering post graduate courses in Telangana have been chastised by the Medical Council of India for not paying stipends to medical students equal to that being given by the government medical colleges. Some have also been hauled up for non submission of research publications.

The colleges that have been confronted for having gone against the Medical Council of India norms include: Bhaskar Medical College, Sangareddy and Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, MNR Medical College, Deccan College of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad (three departments), and Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, both in Ranga Reddy.

Post Graduate students of Government Medical Colleges are given a monthly stipend of Rs Rs 27,000, Rs 28,000 and Rs 30,000 for I, II and III year respectively. The state of affairs at private medical colleges is however, is a bit different, for these colleges take the stipend amount from the students, three months in advance, only to return the sum later. This is done in accordance with the government order said Dr G Srinivas, Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association President.

According to one Medical Council of India observation, the Deccan College of Medical Sciences was paying its medical Radio Diagnosis interns only Rs 18,000; Rs 19,000 and Rs 20,000 per month in the I, II and III year respectively; a sum much less than what is given for internship at Government Medical Colleges. Another fact that has come to light is that medicos doing MD (tuberculosis & respiratory diseases) and MD (dermatology, venereology & leprosy) from Deccan Medical College were not being given a stipend at all.

Besides this, the Medical Council of India has also noted that other than non payment of equivalent stipends, non publication of research work is another significant flouting of MCI regulations. Deccan College of Medical Sciences in MD (dermatology, venereology & leprosy) and Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Ranga Reddy in MD/MS(Ophthalmology) don't have a single research publication this year.

Two professors and an associate professor of the Bhaskar Medical College, Ranga Reddy have been found to have not submitted a single research publication for the year.