Supreme Court Orders Equal Internship Pay for Foreign Medical Graduates in India

FMGs are Indian citizens who earned their medical degrees abroad and then returned to India to complete the required one-year internship before practicing. They perform identical clinical duties as their Indian-trained peers, yet they were denied stipends. The Court held that equal work cannot be compensated unequally, particularly when stipend parity has already been granted to junior FMGs in an earlier judgment.

The Court also clarified that medical institutions will not face punitive action from the University Grants Commission (UGC) for paying stipends under judicial directions, removing a key administrative obstacle cited by authorities.

The top court ordered that the difference in stipend owed to these FMGs must be paid within three weeks. This deadline is aimed at delivering swift relief to the affected doctors.

SC’s decision finally resolves the stipend-parity dispute for FMGs who finished their internships prior to the July 2025 ruling. It is set to help hundreds of foreign-trained Indian doctors who have repeatedly highlighted unequal treatment during their compulsory medical training.