Being Doctors, a representative body of 500 medical professionals in Maharashtra, is planning to approach the Bombay High Court seeking a direction to the state government to form an expert committee to resolve the issue pertaining to cancellation of doctors' registration.

The expert committee will mediate between government and doctors to resolve the issue and devise a plan to ensure that government assigns rural postings to doctors in three years after they pass out from medical institutes, said Dr Deepak Chaturvedi, President of Being Doctors.

In October 2017 the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) cancelled the registration of over 4,548 doctors for failing to serve in rural areas for a year, which is mandatory. According to DMER, the doctors have graduated from government-run medical colleges in the state between 2005 and 2012 and have neither served in rural areas nor paid the penalty. The government has imposed Rs. 10 lakh penalty on MBBS doctors, Rs. 50 lakh on post-graduates and Rs. 2 crore on super-speciality doctors for not serving in rural areas.

Every medical professional needs to renew his /her registration with the Maharashtra Medical Council. Without the registration, these doctors will be called bogus and may invite legal action.

Dr Chaturvedi, opposing the DMER decision to cancel the registration of doctors, stated “If DMER has not withdrawn its decision, we will approach the High Court within a month seeking a direction to the government to set up a panel of experts to find a way to resolve the issue. No doctor is averse to serving the bond. They asked the DMER to find a way where they can provide services without affecting their practice. The talk was going on, the DMER had suddenly taken decision to cancel their registration without any prior notice. The DMER said that doctors who do not pay fines incurred for not serving in rural areas will not able to renew their licence. It instructed doctors to submit bond fee certificates or pay penalty to get their licence renewed.”

As per Maharashtra Medical Council Act, renewal of licence can not be subjected to any bond/penalty. The doctors have willingly signed the bond and anticipated working for a year in the rural areas wherever posted. The GR requires authorities to assign doctors under the bond with postings within a specified duration after the declaration of their results. However except for a few, a majority of the doctors did not receive any communication regarding their postings and, eventually went their ways and began practicing. The doctors are being punished for no fault of their own.”

The doctors were never given opportunity and infrastructure to serve in rural areas. We have filed an RTI with DMER seeking details on number of doctors approached by it to serve in rural areas and they declined and number of doctors' post lying vacant in rural areas from 2005-2012, he said.

Besides this, we are also going to approach Maharashtra Medical Council within a week asking it not to hold renewal of doctors' licence as it is violation of MMC Act, added Dr Chaturvedi.