In many private medical colleges , MBBS students doing internship are forced to work without stipends as the Board of Governors (BoG) of the Medical Council of India failed to act on an amendment to the rules proposed in January 2019 that would have made such stipends mandatory.After the BoG took over in October 2018, it issued a public notice stating that the MCI was considering including a provision in the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education 1997 stating that all MBBS students pursuing compulsory rotating internship shall be paid stipend on par with that of interns in government medical colleges in the same state.The BoG sought comments and suggestions from the public on this proposal. This was in response to complaints that had been pouring in over the years from various states regarding non-payment of stipends in private colleges. However, it went silent on the issue thereafter despite several reminders from the medical community and strikes by interns in many colleges.Talking to TOI, BoG chairperson Dr Vinod Paul said that such an amendment was difficult when there was no provision for stipend in the Indian Medical Council Act. “We are also caught in a quandary because we know that, if we make stipend mandatory, the private colleges will just increase the fees and pay the stipend from the money collected as fees. So, it could lead to an even higher increase in fees,” said Dr Paul.He added that the BoG’s tenure was coming to an end and this issue ought to be taken up by the National Medical Commission that is taking shape.“There is no provision for stipend for postgraduate doctors in the IMC Act either and yet the regulations for PG medical education make it mandatory. Further, it was amended in 2008 to include diploma and super-specialty students. While only Parliament can amend the IMC Act, amending regulations is done regularly,” said Dr KV Babu, who has complained repeatedly to the MCI on this issue.After the BoG took over in October 2018, it issued a public notice that MCI was considering including a provision in the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education 1997 stating that all MBBS students pursuing compulsory rotating internship shall be paid stipend on par with that of interns in government medical colleges in the same state