Even after 70 years of Independence, Doctors still avoid serving in rural areas: Madras HC

The court noted that though India has developed and modified health care in rural areas by setting up Primary Health Centres, many were without doctors or manned by nurses and paramedical staff or had one doctor and paramedical staff.

From these PHCs, patients are referred to district headquarters hospitals, which are supposed to have all facilities to manage at least 90 per cent of the cases, Justice Sathyanarayana said.
Noting that getting admission in a government medical college was a "Himalayan challenge", the judge said, "Like any other profession, a busy practice and an affluent life would be the dream of every medical student."

"Therefore, the rural practice is also becoming remote, especially in India, where we have our own native medicines like Siddha,Ayurvedha and Naturopathy," the judge added.

The judge further noted that doctors in city-based multi-specialty hospitals/government hospitals are provided with multifarious equipment and depend on laboratory reports and said while there was no harm in using such facilities, doctors in these classified areas feel helpless as they get little experience on clinical skills.