Hyderabad: A plea in the Telangana High Court alleged that medical interns across Telangana are facing hardships allegedly due to non-payment and unlawful deduction of stipends.
The Telangana HC, acting on a series of e-mails addressed to the Chief Justice, has converted the correspondence into a Public Interest Litigation and taken up the matter suo motu.
The Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice Ghouse Meera Mohiuddin, initiated proceedings on Thursday after e-mails sent between June 10 and June 25, 2025, by one Pravitha Reddy about alleged financial exploitation of medical interns across both private and government medical colleges in Telangana.
Breaking National Medical Commission rules
The petitioner, through her communications, drew the court’s attention to the precarious conditions faced by medical interns engaged at various medical institutions across Telangana, attributing their hardship primarily to the non-payment and unlawful deduction of stipends.
It was contended that both government and private medical colleges have blatantly disregarded the directions and guidelines issued by the National Medical Commission, which explicitly mandates the payment of stipends to medical interns.
Systematic exploitation of interns
Beyond the issue of non-payment, the petitioner raised grave concerns regarding the systematic exploitation of interns.
It was alleged that upon joining their respective courses, interns are compelled to open bank accounts in specific designated branches and are made to execute blank cheques, enabling the colleges concerned to siphon the stipend amounts due to them.
The petitioner further submitted that the interns, already burdened with demanding clinical duties, are subjected to significant mental trauma as a consequence of this financial exploitation and institutional misconduct.
22 private medical colleges in Telangana
The Standing Counsel appearing on behalf of the National Medical Commission informed the Bench that 22 private medical colleges are operating within the State and urged the Court to implead all such institutions as parties to the proceedings.
The Division Bench declined this prayer, directing instead that the State Government respond to the matter in the first instance.
The Standing Counsel additionally apprised the court that serious allegations pertaining to this issue have been levelled specifically against three institutions, namely Bhaskara Medical College, Malla Reddy Medical College and Patnam Narender Reddy Medical College.
The matter has been adjourned for a period of four weeks, with a direction to the Government of Telangana to file its response before the next date of hearing.
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