DNA

Mumbai, Jan 5: Health minister Vimal Mundada has proposed making two years’ rural service compulsory for the post-graduate medical students, as the only alternative to overcome the acute shortage of medical practitioners in the state.

To begin with, the health ministry, in consultation with the ministry of higher and technical education, has given its consent for one-year rural service for post graduates.

The students, who fail to comply with the bonds signed while taking admissions in medical colleges, will have to pay Rs 15 lac as penalty. The one-year rural service compulsory for medical graduates (MBBS) remains unchanged. The penalty for non-compliance in this case has been hiked from Rs 1 lac to Rs 5 lac.

Doctors registering for super-speciality courses have also not been spared from the one-year rural service, failing which they will be fined Rs 2 5 lac.

Mundada said, “I feel doctors profession has to be service oriented. Just giving two years of their career for rural hospitals is not asking for more as government makes a huge investments for their medical studies.”