Maharashtra: Doctors can't skip rural service by paying Rs 10 lakh
TNN | Jun 15, 2022, 04.33 AM IST
Maharashtra: Doctors can't skip rural service by paying Rs 10 lakh
MUMBAI: A decades-old system of allowing new doctors to skip serving in rural areas for a year in lieu of paying a Rs 10-lakh penalty has been stopped.
Medical and dental students who join public colleges from 2022 and those availing of reservation and fee concession in private institutes will have to mandatorily serve in the interior pockets of Maharashtra.
The decision will channel about 3,600 MBBS graduates into the rural system four-and-a-half years from now. The lion's share - 2,800 - will be from the public medical schools and another 800 will be from private colleges.
Data shows close to 60% candidates in Maharashtra do not service the rural bond. Of them, merely 20%-30% pay the penalty.
The introduction of the bond was seeded in the tough times faced during the India-Pakistan war of 1971. Pune's Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) had turned to Maharashtra for doctors. "Not many stepped up to serve at the border. So the rural service was a national call and was introduced in the aftermath (1972). Maharashtra was the first state to implement it," recalled Dr Pravin Shingare, former head of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER).
During the Covid pandemic, the state was left grappling for doctors in rural pockets. "Hence, the state took the decision to make the bond mandatory," said a DMER officer.
Rough estimates indicate that of 100 patients who visit a primary healthcare centre, many are referred to a cottage hospital, then to a sub-district hospital, and finally a civil hospital. About 20% need to come all the way to a medical college hospital. "If we have more MBBS graduates in these lower-rung medical centres, the service of specialists will improve. What makes me happy is that the attitude that you can pay the government and do away with the mandatory bond is now over. When doctors see the suffering of poor patients, many will automatically realise that they are needed in these underserved pockets," said Shingare.
Currently, the state does not enforce the rural bond on MBBS graduates if they get admission within two attempts to a post-graduate programme. They are permitted to postpone their rural bond and serve it after PG or super-specialty. This has turned into an escape hatch for many.
A Bombay high court order says candidates must be given posts in their field of super specialty for their rural service. "Most primary healthcare centres don't have departments like ENT, dermatology, surgery, ophthalmology. So, with no positions there, many candidates just escape the bond," added Shingare.
Sudha Shenoy, a parent representative, said: "For years, the state has tried to maintain a good balance between students' careers and ensuring good healthcare in rural areas. This decision was long overdue."
Another parent, Brijesh Sutaria, said: "This will benefit villages. The state has been timely in issuing the GR much before the NEET UG 2022 exams and before starting the counselling process."
