The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday, December 12, made 10 years of medical service compulsory for post-graduation medical students in the state health department. As per the order passed on December 9, anyone failing to complete the service period would be fined Rs 1 crore.

Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health, Amit Mohan Prasad said that the decision was applicable to those students who were pursuing the post-graduation course in state medical colleges.’Anyone leaving the course in between would be debarred from the PG degree course for the next three years,’ Prasad said.

The decision by the state government is aimed at filling the shortfall of specialist doctors in government hospitals, The New Indian Express reported.

Uttar Pradesh has nearly 18,000 sanctioned posts for doctors in government hospitals and only 13,000 doctors are working, resulting in a shortfall of about 30%.

As per the recent order, those MBBS doctors who have been serving in rural areas for a year would be given a weightage of 10 marks in NEET for PG courses. Similarly, those serving for two years in rural areas would receive a weightage of 20 marks and those who have completed three years of service in rural areas would be eligible for a benefit of 30 marks.

‘These doctors would also be allowed to take admission in any diploma along with a PG course,’ the order states.

In 2018, the UP government had started two years Compulsory Rural Service Bond also in medical courses.

As per the order, MBBS/BDS students must fill a designated bond of Rs 10 lakh, MD/MS students Rs 40 lakh, PG Diploma/MDS students Rs 20 Lakh, and DM/MCh students Rs 1 crore, in case any medical student does not abide by the bond.

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