Telangana FMG interns intensify protest with relay hunger strike over stipend parity

Foreign Medical Graduate interns in Telangana have launched a relay hunger strike near the Telangana Medical Council office in Hyderabad, demanding stipend parity with local MBBS graduates, clearance of arrears pending since January 2026 and protection from punitive action.

Hyderabad: The Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) interns, posted in various government teaching hospitals in Telangana, have escalated their statewide protests by launching relay hunger strike near the Telangana Medical Council (TSMC) office near Koti in Hyderabad.

Friday marked their second day of relay hunger strike and 30th day, since the foreign medical graduates launched the strike.

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The core demand from FMG interns is parity in stipend payment of Rs 29, 792 to match the stipends of the medical students who completed MBBS in Telangana and elsewhere in the Country. They are also demanding immediate clearance of all stipend arrears accrued since January 2026, and a guarantee that they will be shielded from punitive actions or arbitrary internship extensions.

The FMG interns maintain that they shoulder the same clinical workloads equivalent to local MBBS graduates and yet they are getting paid Rs 5, 000 per month.

With the Health Minister, Damodar Raja Narasimha holding talks with the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) on Friday, the FMG interns and the medical fraternity have made a fervent appeal to the State government to consider the just demands of foreign medical graduates.