Not informed about bond conditions during admission! Kasturba Medical College MBBS medicos move HC

Bengaluru: Alleging that they were not informed about the bond service conditions at the time of MBBS admission, the MBBS students from a private medical college in Karnataka have recently approached the Karnataka High Court against the State Government authorities for imposing a compulsory rural service bond on them.

According to EdexLive, the plea has been filed by the 2018 batch of MBBS students from Kasturba Medical College (KMC), which is a constituent private medical college under Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Deemed University. 

As per the rules, MBBS students enrolled in government medical colleges must undergo a compulsory one-year rural medical service. However, the students pointed out that the bond condition has not yet been applied to the students enrolled in private medical colleges and deemed universities.

Also Read: Karnataka Govt Proposes Restricting Compulsory Service Only for GMC Graduates

Commenting on the matter, a student from the 2018 batch at KMC Manipal told Edex Live on the condition of anonymity, "It makes sense for the government medical college students as their education is subsidised by the government to give back to society through their service. However, our education is self-financed and it is not justified to impose the same. Students in private medical colleges spend Rs 50 to 60 lakh, minimum, on their education."

Although one-year compulsory rural service was mandatory only for the medicos from government medical colleges, Karnataka Compulsory Service Training by Candidates completed Medical Courses Act, 2012 made it applicable to the medical graduates from private medical colleges as well.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that last year, introducing major changes in compulsory rural service policy in Karnataka, the State Health Department had proposed restricting it only to the students in government medical colleges. The State Health Department proposed this policy change with the aim to lessen the financial burden on the government. It was being estimated that the policy change could lead to Rs 544 crore in annual savings.

Even though rural service was made mandatory for medical graduates from private medical institutes as well, this provision was later revised, removing the private and deemed universities from this arrangement.

Meanwhile, according to EdexLive, now the medicos are being asked to sign an affidavit for undertaking compulsory rural service for a period of one year and also to submit a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the Union Health Ministry to obtain their permanent registration with the Karnataka Medical Council.

It is being mentioned in the affidavit that the students will serve in a government institute for one year and if they choose not to undergo the mandatory bond service, they would be liable to pay a penalty of Rs 15 to Rs 30 lakh to the government.

The Karnataka Government is implementing these new changes under the draft Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses (Counseling, Allotment and Certification) (Amendment) Rules, 2024.

However, the students have alleged that since the draft rules have not been passed yet, the bond service requirement is being implemented 'illegally' on the 2018 batch of students. Therefore, challenging these new amendment rules of the Government, the students have now moved the Karnataka High Court, which is yet to assign a hearing date for the matter.

Also Read: 1 Year Compulsory Rural Service Challenged: Karnataka HC Notice to govt