MBBS students demand restoration of bond system in Uttarakhand

The medicos stated that the fee has been increased from 50000 per annum to more than 4 lacs per annum and the government has also revoked the bond system which helped the medicos to get subsidized education in return for offering their services in the remote hills for 5 years.

The Medical Dialogues team has previously reported that all the government medical colleges used to sign a bond with MBBS students were given a subsidized fee on the condition of serving at a government medical facility for five years after their completion of the course. But this system of providing subsidized fees in exchange for service had been taken away by the government.

Protesting against the increased fee and reasserting the importance of the bond system one of the medicos stated in the social media that "Medical students in Uttarakhand are struggling over the fee structure at govt colleges. Students say 2 out of 3 govt medical colleges have done away with the bond facility and now they are forced to pay ₹4.26 lakh annual fee." Another one posted stating that "The fee for MBBS in govt medical colleges of Uttarakhand is increased 8. Many of us are not capable of paying this, which btw is the highest non-bonded fee in the entire country."

Speaking to TOI, on the demand of reintroducing 'the bond system' to get a subsidized fee structure from the government, Yugal Kishore Pant, the Additional Secretary of Medical Education in Uttarakhand clarified that the state will not be able to reintroduce the bond system as with the increased number of medical colleges, the number of medicos have also increased. Moreover, providing subsidized education to such a great number of students will not be possible,, he said. He added to TOI that "We run 3 medical colleges. Another is set to start the session next year. 3 medical colleges have been sanctioned. Teaching about a thousand students in 7 colleges at a subsidized rate will not be practically possible. The government is also investing in their education while charging rupees 4 lakh a year and the students did know of the fees while taking admission."