Put a Stop to Seat Leaving Bond Penalty: Maharastra Resident Doctors Urge NMC

Mumbai: Referring to the National Medical Commission's statistics regarding the number of medical students who committed suicide and dropped out of institutes in the last five years, the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) has urged the Commission to put a stop to Seat Leaving Bond penalty in any way or form.

According to NMC data, 153 MBBS and 1120 doctors pursuing PG medical courses dropped out of their institutes in the last five years. Apart from the dropouts, at least 122 medical students, 64 in MBBS and 58 in post-graduate courses died by suicide between 2018 - 2023.

Central MARD opined that these statistics are "extremely alarming considering the fact that doctors are National asset and their well-being is of paramount to the Nation's health profile."

The association claimed that several doctors resorted to suicide because of the exbortitant and unreasonable seat leaving bond penalty. Writing to the NMC Chairman, the association added, "Central MARD was the first Resident doctors Association in the Nation who had highlighted the harmful impact of seat leaving bond penalty on young Doctor's minds. After conducting our research, we found out that there were innumerable instances where doctors resorted to suicide due to the unreasonable and exorbitant bond penalty that exists in varying magnitude and forms throughout the Nation."

Also Read: 64 MBBS, 58 PG Medicos Committed Suicide in Last Five Years, reveals NMC Data

As per the existing rules, the resident doctors in Maharashtra are currently required to pay a penalty of Rs 20 lakh if they leave their seats. Due to the heavy penalty, the doctors are forced to continue their work as resident doctors even if it raises their mental health concerns.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that last year, the Maharashtra DMER was planning to ask the State Government to waive the penalty after it took note of the mental health concerns among post-graduate medical students.

The data from the Maharashtra State Medical Education Department revealed that nationally, Maharashtra ranked sixth with 85 postgraduate medical students dropping out in the past five years. Apart from this, the State also recorded 11 suicides among the PG medical students in the same period. This is the second highest in the country and in this respect, Maharashtra shares the second position with Gujarat.

Previously, the issue concerning the mental health crisis among the resident doctors was raised by the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) as well. The association had approached the Governor of Maharashtra in this regard and pointed out that 15 medical students committed suicide in the State in the last five years and out of them 11 were PG medical students.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, NMC took cognisance of the matter and wrote to the Principal Secretary of Health and Medical Education of all States and Union Territories asking them to review the seat-leaving bond police, and preferably do away with the same.

The Apex Medical Commission issued this direction after the Anti-Ragging Committee of NMC held a meeting on 9th January 2024 to address the mental health concerns of PG medical students and recommended the State/UT to review the seat leaving policy in medical colleges and to do away the same. As an alternative, they recommended that the States may consider debarring the students for admission in their States for the next one year.

In its letter directed to the top medical regulator, MARD acknowledged that the NMC Anti-ragging committee heard their concerns and decided to take necessary action and intervene promptly to resolve the issue. Central MARD further highlighted the latest development where NMC decided to set up a Task Force to review the details of every issue leading to compromised mental health status of resident doctors across the Nation. This Task Force of NMC will submit its report in May.

Lauding the NMC for acknowledging the critical issue of Mental health crisis among resident doctors across the country, the association requested NMC to put a stop to the Seat Leaving Bond penalty in any way or form, highlighting that "...the bond service is not just a draconian rule that is imposed upon young Doctors but it’s also unreasonable and a significant contributor to the Dangerous statistics of countless lives of resident doctors being lost to Suicides."

"We hope NMC will address this critical issue and work for the betterment of the resident doctors of the country and built a cohesive atmosphere for the next generation of doctors who are in line to serve the future of our Nation," the association further mentioned in its letter dated 16.03.2024.

Also Read: 122 Suicides, 1270 Drop-Outs in Last 5 Years: NMC Constitutes National Task Force to address mental health concerns of medicos