Super Specialists in Gujarat, Govt Reduces compulsory bond period, penalties

Ahmedabad: Taking note of the shortage of trained medical specialists in the State, the Gujarat Government has relaxed the bond conditions for Super Speciality courses.

Now the specialist doctors will need to serve the Government only for one year instead of three and their postings will also not be in the places lacking medical infrastructure or equipment for super speciality.

The confirmation regarding this came from the State Government in a notification dated 02.04.2022. It has been clarified by the Government that the Super Specialist doctors will only be posted at the 14 Government and GMERS hospitals in Gujarat.

Apart from these, now the doctors will have to submit a bank surety of only Rs 15 lakh of the total Rs 50 lakh bond. For the rest of the amount, the doctors will be allowed to execute an affidavit. In case of failure to serve the bond terms, the doctors will be liable to pay only 25% of the bond amount.

Such relaxations have come from the Government at a time when the State is facing a huge shortage of specialists. Although the aim of executing bond at every level of medical education is to ensure availability of doctors, the tendency of skipping bond service failed to serve that purpose.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the State Government recently informed the Assembly that around 67% of MBBS doctors have skipped bond service duty in the last two years. Providing exact figures, the government had informed that only 608 out of 1,879 MBBS doctors had reported for duty in 2020 and 2021 and the Government has to recover an amount of Rs 38.15 crore from those absent doctors as bond payment.

Last year also, the issue of bond service came to light after hundreds of doctors skipped their duties and the Government officers had directed to lodge FIRs against those doctors. Several doctors had approached the High Court as well seeking relief.

Also Read: Gujarat Shocker: 67 percent MBBS doctors skipped bond service duty, Govt to recover Rs 38.15 crore

As per the latest media report by Ahmedabad Mirror, in the last three years, a total number of 60 super speciality doctors belonging to 7 departments of BJ Medical College were required to serve 3 years of bond service. The exception was only for 3 doctors belonging to Pediatric Department and 12 belonging to CVST. However, none of those 60 doctors appeared for bond duty, informed Dr Neeta Mehta, PG Director at BJMC.

While commenting on the matter, Arjunsinh Vanzara, Mamlatdar in-charge of Bond Collection for the state government, told the daily, "In fact, none of the students who passed the MCh course in the five Government Medical Colleges (GMCs) in Gujarat, served their bonded service in public sector hospitals."

The super speciality medical services including Urology, Cardiovascular Thoracic Surgery, Neurosurgery, Paediatric Surgery, Burns and Plastic Surgery, Gastroenterology and Neurology are mainly provided by six major civil hospitals in Gujarat. 

However, the daily adds that until March 14, 2022, around 37 posts of super speciality doctors cum medical teachers were vacant at those hospitals. The number includes 9 posts in Urology, 8 in CVTS, 7 each in Paediatric Surgery and Neurology, 4 in Neurosurgery and 2 vacancies in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

At such an outset, the Government has decided to relax the bond conditions for the doctors who took admission to the Super Speciality courses in the academic year 2021-2022.

The major features of this new bond terms are as follows:

1. The period of bond has been reduced from 3 years to 1 year.

2. As per the bond, now the doctors will be posted only at 14 Government and GMERS hospitals in Gujarat, instead of rural hospitals lacking infrastructure for super speciality.

3. Of the total Rs 50 lakh bond amount, the doctors will have to submit the bank surety of only Rs 15 lakh. For the rest of the Rs 35 lakh amount, affidavits will be accepted.

4. In case the doctors fail to serve the bond conditions, they will be liable to pay only 25% of the bond amount of, instead of 50%.

5. The bond terms further state that the University will issue provisional certificates after completion of the exams and the doctors will get their final documents only after serving the bond period.

Referring to these new guidelines and the relaxation of the bond conditions Dr Raghvendra Dixit, Deputy Director of Medical Education said, "We decided to reduce the service time period from 3 years to 1 year like we did in MBBS and MD/MS courses and have assured posting in GMC and GMERS tertiary level hospitals. We are hopeful that now more students will opt to go for bond service." 

Dr Ranjan Aiyer, Superintendent of SSG Hospital Vadodara also expressed hope that these revised conditions will make more students serve the bond terms. He told the daily, "In the last couple of years, we have had to conduct examination of our Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery students with external examiners due to lack of senior professors for the same. With the new regulations, I am positive that super speciality students will want to serve their bond period and hopefully stay in government service which will help patients as well as them in their career."

Click here to view the new bond conditions.