More states introducing bonds for medical PG
After Odisha and Kerala instituting bonds for PG medicos, Bihar is the latest state to join the fray.
It’s been decided that the medical students who pursue PG courses in government colleges must pay Rs 15 lakh if they quit midway through the course. Those who earn the PG degree must also serve a minimum of three years in the state, or else they must pay the government Rs 25 lakh.
From now on, those desirous of gaining admission to PG courses in government colleges in Bihar must fill two different bonds at the time of admission. One is for not quitting the course midway while the other offers at least three years of service to the state after finishing the course.
The decision to introduce the bond system was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister, Nitish Kumar on Wednesday.
Must pay back the stipend
As Brijesh Mehrotra, the principal secretary of cabinet secretariat, those who quit the course midway must pay back the stipend they received, in addition to the amount that’s pledged in the bond that they signed.
According to sources in the health department, the decision came in the wake of large number of vacancies in the non-clinical and para-clinical PG courses like anatomy, physiology and forensic science and also a severe shortage of specialized doctors in district and block hospitals.
A large number of seats of para and non-clinical courses in different medical colleges lied vacant during the entire session since the PG students in these courses switched to clinical sections. “The practice led to shortage of teachers of non-clinical sections of medical colleges,” said a senior officer of the health department.
Bond would improve medial facilities, says health department
Citing the bond systems that’s in place in certain other states of India, the health department officials in Bihar said that the bond for service facility would help Bihar improve the medical facilities at both the district and village levels.
“There are 477 seats for PG courses in six medical colleges, including those located at Patna, Darbhanga, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur and Gaya. However, on an average, 450 students pass the courses every year,” they said.
For the last many years, around 75% posts of specialized doctors have been lying vacant at both district and block-level hospitals in Bihar.
In 2016, the health department asked the Bihar Public Service Commission(BPSC) to recruit for some 2,700 posts for specialized doctors. However, the exercise wasn’t successful- the BPSC was only able to recruit around 600 PG doctors.