THANE, Feb. 2 -- Around 100 foreign medical graduate (FMG) interns at the Government Medical College (GMC), Ambernath, have not received their stipend for the past five months. The Ambernath Citizens' Forum has informed Dr Ajay Chandanwale, acting vice-chancellor of the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), about the issue and warned that if the stipends are not released soon, it will approach the Human Rights Commission and file a case against the college dean. A Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) is an Indian citizen or Overseas Citizen of India who has obtained an MBBS or equivalent medical degree from a foreign medical college and wishes to practise medicine in India. FMGs are not allowed to practise directly after returning and must pass a mandatory licensing exam such as the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam. After clearing this, they are required to complete a one-year compulsory internship in an National Medical Commission-recognised hospital, after which they can obtain permanent registration with a State Medical Council. Satyajit Burman, a member of the Ambernath Citizens' Forum who raised the issue on social media, said, "These interns have been working day and night in the hospital without being paid a single rupee of their stipend of Rs 18,000. They are spending on their daily commute, accommodation and other expenses from their own pocket. Not paying them a stipend for such a long period is inhuman and a violation of their human rights. Despite raising complaints, no one is listening to them." The college administration, however, stated that the payment of stipends was the responsibility of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Maharashtra, which had not yet released the required funds. However, on humanitarian grounds, the college has already paid two months' stipend to the interns by arranging funds from other sources. Dr Jai Ganesh, president of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Ambernath, told HT, "The non-payment of stipends for five months is not the fault of GMC Ambernath alone. Medical colleges across the state that have foreign medical graduate interns have not received funds from DMER. Despite this, interns at GMC Ambernath were paid stipends for two months, which the college arranged from its own resources. There are also issues related to irregular attendance among some interns." Dr Santosh Verma, Dean of GMC Ambernath, told HT, "Our college is less than two years old and currently functioning from rented premises. This is only the second batch at the college, with around 100 foreign medical graduate interns. As we have not received funds from DMER for this batch, we were unable to pay the stipends. On humanitarian grounds, I arranged payments for two months, but beyond that it was not possible. Once the funds are received, the pending stipends will be cleared." Dr Verma added that not only interns, but faculty members as well as Class III and Class IV staff of the college had also not been paid their salaries. He added that reports from faculty members regarding interns' attendance were pending, and that attendance-related issues were being addressed. "I have already held meetings with representatives of the interns to keep them informed about the situation," he said....