Bond mandatory to private MBBS students availing scholarships

By Vikas Vaidya

The Medical Education Department (DMER) of Maharashtra Government made one year bond compulsory to the students of private unaided and government-aided medical colleges who avail the benefits of various scholarship schemes. This will be applicable from the academic year 2018-19. The students after completing MBBS have to render their services in rural areas as a Government assignment. Around 500 such MBBS doctors graduating from private medical colleges across Maharashtra availing of scholarships and freeships will be included.
Till this year the bond was not mandatory for a single student from private unaided or Government-aided medical colleges. The demand was being made from all quarters that the students of private medical colleges should not be exempted. In fact this year DMER had come out with the circular according to which it did not allow students to appear in the Common Entrance Test for the admission to Post Graduate medical education. The circular had exempted the students of private medical colleges. The decision of DMER was opposed from all quarters.
The students of Medical, Dental, Superspeciality hospitals of Government have to complete one year service in Government establishment. This helped Government in providing doctors in rural areas. But still the number does not fulfill the requirement in rural area. The Tribal Development Department and Social Justice Department provide 100 per cent scholarship to the MBBS students of SC, ST category. The students of other categories include VJNT, SBC etc get 100 per cent scholarship in private medical colleges while students of OBC get 50 per cent scholarship amount.
The students of Social Backward Class studying in private unaided medical colleges too get 50 per cent amount of tuition fees reimbursed. The nominal fees is charged from the students of Government-aided colleges. Government had given a thought to make the bond mandatory to the students of private medical colleges.
The students studying MBBS in Government-aided, private unaided medical colleges and availing all types of scholarship will have to render Government service of one year. The students who are not availing any benefit of any scholarship need not render the one year Government service.
The money paid for the students availing various schemes in degree medical course are actually taken by the Government from the people’s pocket. While the education is subsidised in government-run colleges, students — even those attending private colleges — belonging to various socially and economically weaker sections get scholarships under various schemes of the state government. The entire fees of students belonging to scheduled caste (SC), scheduled tribes (ST), vimukta jati (VJ), nomadic tribe (NT) and special backward category (SBC) are refunded. Similarly, half the fees for students belonging to other backward categories (OBCs) and eco
nomically backward category (EBC) - families with annual income less than Rs 6 lakh - are waived off.
Every year, around 7,000 students graduate from medical colleges in Maharashtra. These include 1,700 graduates from private institutes of which an estimated 500 students avail scholarships and freeships.