Violation of WB Compulsory Rural Service Bond: 34 doctors slapped Rs 20 lakh penalty each

Kolkata: Altogether 34 resident doctors from West Bengal will now have to pay a penalty of Rs 20 lakh each for failing to comply with the compulsory rural service bond terms.

Taking action against these doctors for violating the bond terms of serving their bond after completing the MD/MS or DM (superspecialty) courses, the West Bengal Government has slapped a fine of Rs 20 lakh each, reports TOI.

Among the doctors who are facing Government action, several belong to prominent medical institutes like Bankura Medical College, Burdwan Medical College, Uttar Bengal Medical College, Purulia Medical College, Calcutta Medical College, and NRS Medical College.

Officials in the Health Department have informed that these 34 doctors would get their original documents back only after they deposit the amount.

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As per the bond service conditions agreed upon at admission to postgraduate or postdoctoral medical courses, these doctors must serve in rural areas. The rules demand that after spending one year in medical colleges, the resident doctors spend two years in district and rural hospitals. 

Accordingly, the State Health Department assigns specific hospitals and departments to the students at the government medical colleges. Students are expected to work as senior resident doctors after completing their postgraduate courses and two years ago, the Health Department issued a notification regarding this. The rules specified that if the doctors failed to serve the Government as per the agreed terms, they would have to pay a penalty of Rs 10 lakh per year.

Recently the Department conducted an investigation into the matter and after this, they issued a formal notification naming the erring doctors, their respective bond postings, and the medical colleges they are affiliated with, Indian Express has reported. Consequently, the medical superintendents and vice-principals of the institutes where these students were enrolled were also informed of this action on the part of the State Government.

Commenting on the development, a top official from the State Health Department expressed concern over the fact that the senior residents were not complying with the bond service terms. The official told the Daily, "The question is why the senior residents are not joining work in the district hospital or rural hospital even after completing one year in the medical colleges as per bond rules. Before issuing the punitive action, the doctors were warned twice about the consequences of their non-compliance. Despite these warnings, they failed to rectify the situation."

"These SRs overstayed in their mother institutes, completing the entire bond tenure in those institutes instead of serving two years in places where they were posted. This is in violation of govt order," a senior Health official told TOI.

Meanwhile, senior officials in the Health Department have also insisted that it was a "routine" action on the part of the State Government. "We are duty-bound to provide adequate medical services to everyone, including those staying in rural areas. The state heavily subsidises medical education, and it is unfortunate that some of them do not want to serve people in rural areas. Nothing more should be read into a routine decision," a senior official from the Health Department told the Times of India.

However, a professor of surgery and member of the Joint Platform of Doctors, Dr. Manas Gumta has claimed that while the bond terms mentioned Rs 10 lakh penalty per year for non-compliance, the responsibility for this issue "cannot be solely placed" on the resident doctors.

Pointing out that the hospital administration also plays a crucial role in releasing the doctors after completion of their one-year service period, Prof Gumta further hinted that political influence might have been the reason for retaining some doctors and blaming the resident doctors. He also suggested that only blaming the resident doctors without addressing "the systemic issues" would not resolve the problem.

"If these 34 SRs did not serve their bond in places where they were asked to go, how come the authority of their respective medical colleges did not report this? We feel that something is amiss in this," a senior doctor told TOI.

Referring to another order of inquiry against 25 other SRs in August this year for a similar violation, another senior doctor told the Daily, "Within two weeks, the health department released their original documents, saying that they completed their bond tenure. The whole issue is confusing to many of us."

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