Pune: After making one-year bond compulsory for MBBS students in government colleges, the State government has brought the students of the reserved category in private colleges who get benefits of scholarship and other facilities from the government, under the ambit of mandatory bond service of one year.
“Owing to the paucity of doctors practising in rural areas, the government had to take this step to improve upon the condition of non-availability of doctors in remote areas,” stated the recent government resolution (GR).
According to GR by the State Medical Education Department in early January, the students from SC, ST and Nomadic Tribes studying at private medical colleges receive 100 per cent scholarship under Adivasi Welfare Department, Social Justice and Special Assistance Department and various other government schemes.
Moreover, students from lower economic background get 50 per cent of their fees refunded by the government. While, government aided medical colleges charge bare minimum fees for the medical courses and thus, they are expected to serve the one-year bond service.
“All these education scholarship and refunds made to the students are generated through public taxes and hence, in return for the benefits and in a bid to generate doctors in villages and remote areas, the government has decided to make it mandatory for MBBS students from SC/ST and Nomadic Tribes in private medical colleges to serve one-year bond service in rural areas,” reads the State GR.
Any student found violating the rule will be penalised and they will have to reimburse entire amount of scholarship with interest to the government.
The rule will be applicable from academic year 2018-19. It has also mentioned that those students who do not take benefits of the said schemes provided by the government do not fall under the bracket.
In October 2017, the State government had declared a similar rule for MBBS students in government colleges, to compulsorily serve one-year bond service in government hospitals in rural areas. The move didn’t go down well with the doctors and medical students. They said that the State government was not working on developing proper infrastructure to facilitate medical aid in rural areas instead are implicating such rules for medical students.
