Maharashtra May Allow MBBS Graduates to Pursue PG Medical Courses Without Completing Bond Service: Report
Bond Service Policy in Maharashtra
Mumbai: The MBBS graduates in Maharashtra may get relief from the one-year mandatory bond service requirement. The State Government may allow such doctors from State-run medical colleges to pursue their postgraduation courses without first completing their bond service tenure, as per a recent report by Careers360.
Confirming this, an official from the State Medical Education Department informed Careers360 that the officials are discussing whether the new bond service rules, which were announced in 2017 but have not been implemented yet, would apply to the recently graduated medical students.
The Government's deliberations in this regard have come soon after the medicos expressed concern that they may be set back by several years if the revised rules were enforced.
Speaking to Careers360, the official from the State Medical Education Department said, on the condition of anonymity, "A decision is likely this week. It will hopefully be in the students' favour."
In the Government Resolutions (GR) issued in October 2017, the State mentioned that the medical graduates from the GMCs would not be considered eligible for MD/MS and PG Diploma courses before completing their bond-service requirement at the remote healthcare facilities and other establishments.
However, when the students who were admitted in 2019-2020 and graduated recently enquired about this at the State Medical Education Directorate, they came to know that the GRs meant the new conditions would be applicable from the 2019 undergraduate (UG) batch, and not from the 2019 PG medical admissions. The graduates were worried about this as many of them are yet to find a posting for their bond service.
Amid this, earlier this month, the Association of State Medical Interns (ASMI) Maharashtra, a group of 2019 batch students who recently completed their post-MBBS internship wrote to the Director of Medical Education and sought clarity on this issue and demanded to be only subjected to the conditions mentioned in their bond agreement and be allowed to take the upcoming NEET PG exam.
Commenting on this, one of the graduates told the Daily, "The problem is that there are around 4,150 students graduating from government medical colleges every year. By comparison, only a small number – 100 or so – positions at the rural healthcare centres (RHCs) and primary healthcare centres (PHCs) are available every month. This causes a huge backlog, with the graduates awaiting their turn for 2-3 years. If we can’t pursue PG studies in this duration, we will be at a loss."
At present, the State permits the medical graduates to first enrol to PG medical courses and complete their bond service requirements later. However, those students who are repeating their PG entrance test for the third time have to complete their bond tenure first.
Speaking to the Daily in this regard, another doctor added, "If the new rule is enforced the aspirants wouldn’t have an option but to break the bond by paying Rs 10 lakh. However, most of us can’t pay such a sum. We don’t have a problem with doing bond service before PG, but for that the state must provide adequate spots. Alternatively, it should revert to the previous norms."
Meanwhile, the medical graduates have also highlighted that the appointment process for the bond service is not streamlined and there is a lack of transparency. In this regard, a medical graduate alleged, "While the counselling for PHCs and RHCs is done through the state Directorate of Health Services (DHS) portal, there’s no such centralised process for other postings such as tutors, house officers and central government institute responsibilities. The details of applicants and appointees aren’t made public. As there’s no pre-verficiation process, many enter false details and pay bribes to the staff to get postings."
