More states now getting Bond signed from Doctors

In the last few years, states like, Odisha and Kerala have already introduced bond system for medical students pursuing MBBS and PG studies. Now, few more states in India have shown their interest for introducing bond system in PG medicos. Recently, Bihar Cabinet has made a decision at a cabinet meeting which was chaired by the Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar to introduce the bond system for PG medical students to ensure that they will have to offer their services for treatment to the people of the state for at least three years. Bihar is found to be the latest state introducing bond for PG medicos after the former two states i.e. Odisha and Kerala. The Indian Government is soon going to implement this bond system all over India as soon as possible. As per this decision, students pursuing PG courses in Government Colleges will have to pay Rs.15 lakhs if they quit their course midway. And the medical PG degree holders will have to serve at least three years in the state; otherwise they must pay Rs.25 lakhs to the Government. That’s why, students who desire to take admission in PG courses in Government Medical Colleges will have to sign two separate bonds at the time of admission i.e. one for not leaving the course midway and another one for serving at least 3 years in the state after completion of their course. According to Brijesh Mehrotra, the principal secretary of cabinet secretariat, students quitting PG courses must return their remuneration to the Government along with the amount pledged by them in the bond that they signed. The decision to introduce the bond system is due to the huge vacancies in nonclinical and para-clinical PG courses such as: physiology, anatomy, forensic science and also due to a severe shortage of specialized doctors in district and block hospitals. As the PG students of para and nonclinical courses are switched to clinical sections; a large number of vacant seats are available in these courses in different medical colleges. A senior officer of the health department said, “The practice led to shortage of teachers of nonclinical sections of medical colleges”. Citing the practice of bond system in other states of India, the health department officials in Bihar said that the bond for service facility would help the state to enhance the medical facilities at both the district and village levels. They also said that 477 seats are available for PG courses in six medical colleges, including those located at Patna, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Darbhanga and Muzaffarpur. On the other hand, it is found that an average of 450 students pass the courses annually. Approximately 75% posts of specialized doctors have been found vacant at both district and block-level hospitals in Bihar. In 2016, the Health Department had asked the Bihar Public Service Commission(BPSC) to recruit against about 2,700 posts of specialized doctors in the last year. But the exercise wasn’t successful as the BPSC was only able to recruit around 600 PG doctors. With introduction of the bond system, hopefully all states will be able to reverse this trend and fill all the recruitments. Keep following PrepLadder!