‘Raise stipend issue, lose NEET PG eligibility’, Telangana MBBS interns allege pressure from private medical colleges

MBBS interns at several private medical colleges in Telangana allege they are being threatened with academic repercussions, including denial of internship completion certificates essential for NEET PG 2026 eligibility, if they continue to raise concerns over unpaid or delayed stipends.

This move comes after MBBS interns at several private medical colleges held continuous protests over the last three months over non-payment of stipends.

At Patnam Mahender Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences, students claim that the college has warned them not to pursue the stipend issue further. “They told us that if we raise it again, we will not be given our internship completion certificate when we pass out. Without that, we cannot appear for NEET PG,” said an intern, requesting anonymity.

While the college recently credited ₹28,500 to interns’ accounts, ₹25,500 as three months’ stipend and ₹3,000 as reimbursement for scrubs, students say the stipend amount of ₹8,500 per month was never officially acknowledged by them and that future payments are uncertain.

The situation is worse at Chalmeda Anand Rao Institute of Medical Sciences, Karimnagar, where 64 interns were suspended for a week in July after they staged a protest in front of the college gate seeking a hike in stipend. The current batch has not received any stipend since the start of their internship on April 21.

While previous batches received ₹2,000 per month, students claim the management has neither made any payments nor given clarity on a revision. “They asked us to open bank accounts, but have not credited a rupee,” said an intern, who was among the 10-15 students to submit a written complaint to the State vigilance committee.

“I have paid ₹3 lakh over five years as an ‘A’ category student, in addition to ₹5,000 per year towards a ‘stipend fee’ that was collected along with tuition. Still, we are being denied any stipend,” a medico in Hyderabad noted. Some private medical colleges have reportedly agreed to hike stipends to ₹7,000 or ₹10,000 per month. But implementation remains patchy.

A Government Order (GO) issued in 2023 mandates that MBBS interns in both government and private colleges in Telangana be paid a stipend of ₹25,906 per month. This figure was revised to ₹29,792 through a GO issued on June 28.