Freedom from bonds for 2000 MBBS students

Updated on: Monday, May 02, 2011

The Medical Education Department is set to grant hundreds of MBBS students their long-standing wish - scrap the Rs 10 lakh bond they are required to sign when they opt out of year-long field postings after graduating. And this, say sources, is primarily because the government does not have enough field openings to accommodate them.

According to well-placed sources, the decision will be formally announced on May 6 in a meeting convened by the health minister and then sent to the cabinet for approval.

Elaborating on the backdrop of this decision, a senior official of the State Medical Education Department said, each year, nearly 2000 doctors from government run medical colleges join the fraternity. In recent times, the government's biggest challenge has been providing sufficient postings for these students. "While we have enough jobs for post-graduate students and doctors doing their super specialisation, the health department does not have enough postings for the 2000 medical students," said the official, adding how the wait for a posting stretches to a year, during which the MBBS doctors cannot take up any other position.

The problem has been compounded with the apparent abundance of doctors in the state. Some time back, the health department advertised for 1400 vacancies for medical officers for which they received 5000 applications from MBBS doctors. "This shows there is excess of doctors in the market and we do not require so many field doctors,'' said an official, adding, "Besides, many doctors in the civil hospitals feel that the MBBS students who have to complete a year's stint in field postings and government hospitals are not serious enough.''

A senior official of the state health department also pointed out the disjointed way the bond system functions. He said, “While the State Medical Education Department accepts the bonds, there is no check by the health department on who serves and who deserts the government postings."

Dr Sanjay Gahiwale of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors welcomed the move saying, "We had demanded for the scrapping of the bonds during our last agitation. The government had assured us that action will be taken, and it has."

Bonds for post graduation and super specialisation will continue to remain.

Freedom from bonds for 2000 MBBS students

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