Kathmandu, May 27 -- A government task force has recommended a minimum monthly subsistence allowance of Rs24,000 for MBBS and BDS interns. The move is aimed at standardising payments across public and private medical colleges.

The recommendation comes amid growing complaints from intern doctors that allowances vary widely between institutions, despite students carrying out similar clinical duties during their compulsory internship year.

The task force, led by joint secretary Chandra Kanta Bhusal at the Ministry of Education, has proposed that intern doctors be paid 50 percent of the starting salary of an eighth-level government health worker, whose basic pay is around Rs48,000 a month.

According to the report, private medical colleges ...