Mandatory 3 years service for doctors post MBBS,PG; Jharkhand doubles bond penalty

Ranchi: Any student passing out of the state’s medical colleges will have to work for three years in the state after finishing the course is the proposal cleared by the Jharkhand cabinet recently. Earlier, a student after completing an MBBS or a postgraduate course had to serve the state for a year only. Moreover, If anybody overlooks the condition he or she had to pay a fine ranging between Rs. 10 and 20 lakh.

Indian Express reports that no medical entrance exam will be open for a year to those who do not take up their seats after the final counselling. Those who leave mid-way through the course would have to return the scholarship amount and other allocated stipends, alongside the fine.

Besides this, course certificates of students remain with the college till they complete three years in service. However, if employment provisions are not made by the government within a period of six months, the stipulation would not apply to the case. A bond to this effect will have to be signed by the student at the time of admission.

According to Official sources, this was being done to retain doctors in the state for a longer period. “There is a huge shortage of the required number of doctors,” said a senior official to the IE.

Principal Secretary (Health) Nidhi Khare informed the daily: “In the last couple of years, there were at least 70 students, who left the course mid-way, agreeing to pay fines that totalled around Rs 2 crore. We want to stem this trend. Also, we are hoping that it would help fill the shortage of doctors, as they will have to work within the state for three years.”

Jharkhand has three medical colleges —Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Jamshedpur, Patliputra Medical College in Dhanbad, and Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi. At present, the MBBS course has a cumulative seat capacity of 180.

In the past couple of years, the state government has announced three new medical colleges and hospitals at Dumka, Palamu, and Hazaribagh. Recently, the state government transferred 236.92 acres of land to authorities responsible for setting up an AIIMS at Deoghar.

“These new facilities will attract better doctors from other states. However, we require to churn out more doctors from within the state. We are hoping that these measures, coupled with the fact that new colleges are coming up, will help us in filling the acute shortage,” an official said to the Indian Express.