What Happens When a College Does Not Pay Its Residents

When a college does not pay its residents

The regulator asked, answers were bad

A National Medical Commission postgraduate board survey in 2023 drew 10,178 replies. Of the 7,901 analysed from private colleges, 2,110 reported no stipend at all.

Thousands more were paid below the floor

In the same survey 4,288 postgraduate students reported a stipend below their own state government rate, which is the floor the regulations set for every single college.

Some were paid, then made to return it

1,228 students reported that the stipend reached their account and was then taken back by the college management. The survey covered 213 colleges across 19 states.

A hundred and ninety eight colleges

In November 2024 the Commission issued a show cause notice to 198 medical colleges, 115 of them government and 83 private, for not submitting their stipend data at all.

The penalty can reach one crore rupees

The postgraduate regulations let the National Medical Commission impose a penalty of up to one crore rupees for each violation, and beyond that cut seats or stop admissions.

The survey began with a rights complaint

The board ran this survey on directions from the National Human Rights Commission. The Supreme Court has separately directed it to collect stipend data from colleges.

Want the rules behind the stipend?

Our story on intern stipend rules covers the regulations that make payment compulsory, the Supreme Court case behind them, and the penalties already imposed on colleges.