Hyd: BJP demands equal stipend for foreign medical graduates
Hyderabad, Nov 12 (TNT): BJP Telangana President N Ramchander Rao on Thursday demanded that the state government increase the monthly stipend for foreign medical graduates (FMGs) undergoing internships in government hospitals from Rs. 5,000 to Rs. 29,792, on par with locally trained medical graduates.
Addressing the media after meeting a group of protesting FMGs at the BJP state office here, Rao condemned the alleged police action against the graduates, claiming that they were lathi-charged, dragged away and booked in cases while staging a protest outside the Telangana Medical Council for the past 34 days.
He said foreign medical graduates, after completing their medical education abroad, were required to clear the National Medical Commission’s screening examination before becoming eligible for internships in India. They subsequently undergo compulsory rotating medical internships (CRMI) in government hospitals, performing duties similar to those of house surgeons who graduated from local medical colleges.
However, while local house surgeons receive a monthly stipend of Rs. 29,792, FMG interns are paid only Rs. 5,000, which amounted to discrimination, he alleged.
Invoking the principle of ‘Equal Pay for Equal Work’, Rao demanded that the government extend equal stipends and allowances to FMG interns and clear their pending arrears from January 2026.
He urged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and the Health Minister to intervene immediately, stating that the demand would entail an additional annual expenditure of only Rs. 2 crore on the state exchequer.
Questioning the government’s reluctance to extend equal benefits to the graduates serving in government hospitals, Rao assured the protesting FMGs that the BJP would support their agitation until their demands were fulfilled.
TNT TS
