Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) interns protesting over stipend disparity and unpaid dues were detained by police near the Telangana Medical Council office in Hyderabad’s Koti area, according to Telangana Today, as their statewide agitation entered its 34th day on Tuesday.
The protesters were on the sixth day of a relay hunger strike when police personnel arrived at the site, the report said. The action added to tensions around a dispute that has continued for more than a month between FMG interns and Telangana’s Health department.
The interns, who are posted at government teaching hospitals across the state, are seeking parity with locally trained MBBS interns. While locally trained interns receive a monthly stipend of Rs 29,792, FMG interns are paid Rs 5,000, despite carrying out what the protesters describe as identical clinical workloads.
The FMG interns are also demanding the payment of stipend arrears accumulated since January 2026. Their demands include immediate revision of the stipend and a formal assurance that they will not face disciplinary action or arbitrary extensions of their internships after the protest ends.
The dispute places the administration’s handling of medical internship staffing under scrutiny because the protesting graduates are working in government teaching hospitals while also seeking a resolution to their employment-related demands. The source report did not specify how many interns are participating in the agitation or the total amount of arrears claimed.
According to Telangana Today, the protesters have faced pressure from law enforcement authorities during the relay hunger strike. Medical associations and student organisations, including the Telangana Junior Doctors Association, have condemned what they described as police crackdowns on peaceful protesters and criticised the State government’s response to the dispute.
The medical fraternity, including postgraduate resident doctors and senior doctors, has appealed to the State administration and Health Minister Damodar Raja Narasimha to intervene. Their appeal calls for police action to stop and for the demands of the FMG interns to be resolved through discussions.
The protest also raises a wider administrative question for public hospitals: how stipend rules are applied to doctors performing similar internship duties through different training pathways. The reported gap between Rs 5,000 and Rs 29,792 is central to the interns’ demand for equal treatment.
The government’s reported response, including whether it will open formal negotiations, release the pending dues or issue protections against disciplinary measures, was not detailed in the source material. The relay hunger strike and statewide protest were continuing when the report was published, with no resolution announced.
