New Delhi, November 17, 2025 - The Rajasthan Medical Education Society (RajMES) has informed government medical colleges that the State Finance Department has not approved stipends for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) doing internships in RajMES-run colleges. This comes even as FMG groups argue that Supreme Court orders and National Medical Commission (NMC) circulars entitle them to stipends at par with Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs).
The issue comes to a head after the State Finance (Rules) Department, in an internal communication dated September 10, 2025 (ID No. 212500597), declined to grant consent for paying stipends to FMGs in RajMES-operated medical colleges. The decision has effectively blocked the release of funds for FMG stipends, even though IMGs in the same government medical colleges are receiving about Rs 21,700 per month after revision of internship stipend and addition of dearness allowance.
RajMES, which runs many of the newer government medical colleges in Rajasthan, has issued official letters confirming the situation. According to FMG groups, all government medical colleges allotted to the July 2025 FMG internship batch fall under RajMES, which means the current batch of FMG interns across these colleges is affected by the Finance Department’s stand.
This has created what FMGs describe as a two-tier system: IMGs and FMGs work in similar clinical roles and shifts, but while IMGs in Rajasthan’s government colleges receive stipends, FMGs in RajMES-run institutions report receiving no stipend at all.
On November 1, 2025, the Director of RajMES wrote to the principals of government medical colleges in Jhalawar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Barmer, Churu, Dungarpur, Pali, Sikar, Alwar, Karauli, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Sri Ganganagar, Dausa, Sirohi, Dholpur, Hanumangarh, Baran, Nagaur, Sawai Madhopur, Banswara, Jhunjhunu and others about the question of stipends for FMGs.
The letter stated that the Finance Department had not given permission for payment of stipends to FMGs in medical colleges operated under RajMES and that this position was based on the Finance (Rules) Department’s note dated September 10, 2025.
On September 10, 2025, the Finance (Rules) Department mentioned in a letter to RajMES that the Administrative Department had been told earlier that consent was given only in a limited way. This consent allowed waiving internship fees and providing stipends to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) according to the NMC circular dated March 4, 2022. However, this applied only to a maximum of 7.5 percent of the allowed seats in medical colleges.
The Finance Department made it clear in 2025 that it did not approve stipends for FMGs in RajMES-run medical colleges beyond this limit. It emphasized that its position had not changed even after receiving several requests from the Administrative Department that oversees medical education.
Separately, a petition has been filed before the Supreme Court of India seeking directions to Rajasthan authorities to provide stipends to FMGs at the same rate as IMGs. The petition focuses on FMG interns in Rajasthan who are not being paid during their one-year compulsory rotating medical internship, even as IMGs in various government colleges receive a monthly stipend of Rs 21,700.
Filed by Advocate Dr. Charu Mathur, the plea concerns FMGs interning at Government Medical College, Dholpur (GMC Dholpur) after completing their medical education abroad. The petition contends that the non-payment of stipends violates their fundamental rights under Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) of the Constitution, especially when IMGs performing similar duties in government colleges are being paid.
The plea relies on the NMC’s 2021 regulations, the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, and the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship Regulations, along with the NMC circular dated March 4, 2022, to argue that FMGs cannot be excluded from stipends.
The ALL FMGs Association (AFA) has publicly criticised the Rajasthan government’s stance. In social-media posts, the association has described the situation as a betrayal of FMGs and a disregard of central-level directives from the NMC and the higher judiciary. It has pointed out what it sees as a contradiction: on one side, court orders and NMC guidelines emphasise that FMGs should receive stipends and cannot be treated differently from IMGs; on the other side, RajMES letters explicitly state that stipends for FMGs will not be paid in RajMES-run colleges because the Finance Department has withheld consent.
AFA has repeatedly stressed that FMGs are part of the healthcare workforce during internship and has asserted that they “deserve stipends” and cannot be made to do unpaid work during a mandatory internship year.
Over the past few years, the Supreme Court and High Courts, as well as the NMC, have issued several directions related to stipends for medical interns, including FMGs:
NMC circular of March 4, 2022: This circular states that the stipend and other facilities to FMGs should be extended equivalent to those of Indian Medical Graduates being trained at government medical colleges, and that medical colleges may accommodate FMG interns in up to 7.5 percent of their permitted intern seats.
NMC public notices in 2023: Public notices issued in November and December 2023 clarified that FMGs who are posted for CRMI in NMC-approved hospitals are eligible for stipends equivalent to IMGs of that college or institution, and that internship fees should not be charged.
Supreme Court orders on FMG stipends:
In April 2024, the Supreme Court held that FMGs cannot be treated differently from MBBS graduates for the purpose of stipends and directed that they be paid stipends at par with IMGs, warning institutions of strong action for non-compliance.
In July 2025, in Zabihullah & Ors v Aligarh Muslim University & Ors, the Court directed AMU to pay stipend arrears to FMG interns at the same rate as IMGs and reiterated that stipend is a right of the student and cannot be denied.
Other court interventions: In July 2024, the Supreme Court issued notice to the NMC, Rajasthan Medical Council and others on a plea by FMGs from Rajasthan and Delhi alleging denial of stipends, indicating that the question of enforcement of stipend norms remains under active judicial scrutiny. High Courts such as the Kerala High Court have also struck down internship fee orders for FMGs, citing the NMC’s policy that interns are to be paid stipends rather than charged fees.
More recently, the Supreme Court has criticised the NMC for failing to ensure stipend payments for interns, calling non-payment of stipends a form of “bonded labour” and directing the Commission to file a detailed compliance affidavit.
Taken together, NMC circulars and public notices, along with Supreme Court rulings since 2022, have built a framework in which FMGs are to receive stipends equivalent to IMGs during CRMI, and no internship fee is to be charged.
However, the RajMES letter and the Finance Department’s note show how state-level implementation can diverge from this framework. While the Finance Department acknowledges the NMC circular of March 4, 2022, and the 7.5 percent FMG quota for paid internship seats, it has so far refused to extend consent for stipends to the broader pool of FMG interns currently posted in RajMES-run colleges.
As a result, FMG interns in Rajasthan find themselves in a grey zone: they point to central regulations and Supreme Court judgments that, in their view, clearly entitle them to stipends at par with IMGs, while the State Finance Department continues to withhold approval for stipend payments in RajMES institutions. The Supreme Court petition by FMGs at GMC Dholpur seeks to resolve this conflict and could determine how strictly state governments must follow NMC guidelines and apex court directions on stipends for FMG interns.
(Rh/VK/MSM)
