The Telangana government is planning to abolish the mandatory one year rural service for all newly passed out MBBS students from next academic year onwards in the state.
As part of this, earlier, the state government had constituted an expert committee led by Telangana Medical Education Director and asked it to submit a report on the pros and cons and its consequences of the removal of the compulsory rural service norm for medical graduates in the state.
After having an in-depth detailed study, the experts committee, has submitted the government that there is not much benefit to the government by imposing compulsory rural medical service to the freshly completed MBBS graduates, as the state government had to shell out more than Rs. 60 crore to pay the monthly salaries to the medical graduates working in the government hospitals. “At present more than 1,200-14,000 Post Graduate Medical students are passing out and the state government is shelling out Rs. 40,000 to each PG student, Rs. 45,000 to super specialty graduate and Rs. 38,000 to Medical Diploma students for their service in the government hospitals. We have already exempted the MBBS graduates from this norm from last year,” informed a Senior Officer form the Medical and Health department in Telangana.
In fact, the state government had introduced the compulsory rural medical service for the fresh medical gradates in the year 2013 with an aim to ensure adequate healthcare workers and doctors are available to the poor people in the rural government hospitals. Though the compulsory rural service had enabled good availability of doctors in the rural areas, this was opposed by junior doctor’s association for making it mandatory for MBBS students. They had to also go for an indefinite strike against the state government in 2015 and demanded to abolish this compulsory rural service norm, as it is coming in the way of doctors to pursue their higher education and career development.
Now the Telangana state government based on the expert committee report is soon going to abolish the compulsory rural medical service norm for which a bill has to be passed in the state legislature. The healthcare department had informed that a detailed draft bill is in the making and very soon the government is expected to bring the bill and amend the norm of compulsory rural service for the medical students.
“The government’s decision to abolish the compulsory rural service by the medical students is a good step forward. However, the government should appoint the post graduate doctors working temporarily in the government hospitals on a permanent basis, which will help improve the quality of medical services in the government hospitals,” opined Srinivas, President of Junior Doctor’s Association (JUDA).