Bengaluru: Deprived of their rights to practice as doctors in absence of registration from the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC), around 3500 MBBS students are in the lurch as the medical colleges have withheld their original documents submitted at the time of admission.Secured a medical seat through the Common Entrance Test (CET), these doctors of the 2015 batch have been awaiting their marks...
Bengaluru: Deprived of their rights to practice as doctors in absence of registration from the Karnataka Medical Council (KMC), around 3500 MBBS students are in the lurch as the medical colleges have withheld their original documents submitted at the time of admission.
Secured a medical seat through the Common Entrance Test (CET), these doctors of the 2015 batch have been awaiting their marks card for over two months now without which they cannot get registered with the State Medical Council, which is mandatory for practising.
As per the medical college authorities, the original documents are withheld in compliance with the instructions given by the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) over the issue of clarity on compulsory rural service.
Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported that a bunch of medicos moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the validity of the Karnataka Compulsory Service Act which mandated one year of compulsory Government service.
This came after the Director of Medical Education, PG Girish wrote a letter to the Dean and Directors of Government and private medical colleges in Karnataka asking them not to release the original documents collected from students at the time of admission, until further instructions from the DME.
"The legislation mandates that all candidates should take up compulsory training service after having completed medical courses covering undergraduate, post-graduate degree/diploma and super speciality courses in various disciplines, failing which penalty ranging Rs 30 lakh to Rs 50 lakh is to be paid by the defaulting candidates. As a step in the direction of enforcing the legislation, colleges have been asked to withhold the original documents, " the letter as quoted by The Hindu, referring to the Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act, 2012, which mandates one compulsory government service.
Upset over the same the medicos have come under the umbrella of the Karnataka Association of House Surgeons (KAHS), demanding immediate release of their original documents and the association is reportedly planning to have a conversation with Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar on Thursday.
Surya B.N., a graduate from Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences and an executive committee member of KAHS, told the daily that the issue of compulsory rural service is still pending before the High Court and it will take time till a judgment is passed.
"We are ready to abide by the court's judgment when it comes. We want our rightful KMC registration now so that we can start practising. We cannot afford to be a burden on our parents even after graduating," he stated.
Pointing out that it is a waste of medical students not to employ them in the hospitals during the second wave, one of the graduates from Belagavi Government Medical College added that almost 7000 medical students contributed their services day and night in order to handle the pandemic and it is high time that they are included in the workforce in the fight against the second wave of COVID as well.
"We put in our best in the last five-and-a-half years to complete the course and now, we are yet to be registered," he mentioned.
Meanwhile, medical students have also launched a campaign on social media platforms #doctorsdeniedlicence; #weneedKMCregistration and have asked the authorities to provide them with their license at the earliest.
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