The Supreme Court has issued a notice to Uttarakhand Ayurvedic University, Haridwar, in a case alleging discrimination in the payment of monthly stipends to postgraduate students at its Gurukul Campus. The apex court has sought a reply from the respondent institution by March 17 while hearing a petition filed by affected students.
The petition has been filed by Almora resident Lalit Tiwari along with other postgraduate students studying in different batches at the Gurukul Campus. The petitioners have alleged that while some PG students are being paid a monthly stipend as per rules, others are being arbitrarily denied the same, despite performing identical academic and clinical duties.
According to the petition, there is no rational or legal basis for this distinction. The students have claimed that the university is unlawfully categorising PG seats into stipend and non-stipend categories, which violates the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine regulations notified in 2024 regarding minimum standards for postgraduate education in Ayurveda.
It has been stated that students admitted to stipend-linked seats are receiving monthly payments ranging from ₹55,400 to ₹62,100, whereas the petitioners are not receiving any stipend at all. This disparity exists even though all postgraduate students are assigned the same workload, responsibilities and duty hours.
The petitioners have further argued that such differential treatment amounts to a clear violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before law. They have also claimed that repeated representations to the university administration failed to result in any corrective action.
The plea points out that as per existing norms, postgraduate students in Ayurveda are entitled to stipend payments on par with students of other medical systems funded by the central and state governments, without discrimination among medical streams or institutions.
Taking cognisance of the matter, the Supreme Court has issued notice to the university and fixed the matter for further hearing after February 17.
