JOIN USMedical graduates must swallow rural pill
The Karnataka High Court has rightly dismissed a batch of petitions questioning the state government’s rule making it compulsory for medical graduates to serve in rural areas for one year after the completion of their course. Though the court had earlier upheld the Karnataka Compulsory Service Training by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act, 2012, which came into effect in 2015, students have been challenging the provisions on one ground or the other to avoid postings in rural areas. The court has now held that the legal relationship between the petitioners and the state is that the latter would provide medical education at subsidised fees on the condition that qualified doctors would serve in rural areas. This has to be taken as a composite bargain between the state and the student, Justice Sachin Shankar Magadum observed. Having walked in with their eyes open and having voluntarily signed a bond, it is unfair on the part of students to now back out of their commitment. Under the Act, students who fail to complete the mandatory rural service are liable to be fined Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh.
A section of students claims that the new rule which makes rural service compulsory even for those admitted under the management quota is unjustified as they have not availed of any concessions from the government. The government argues that this is consistent with the Act as the main objective is to ensure the availability of doctors in rural areas, where there is an acute shortage of medical professionals. In the instant case which pertains to students who have executed bonds, the court called for “responsible colleagueship” and held that doctors should be a ray of hope for the public at large in the context of the pandemic and a possible third wave. “The doctors have a duty to treat and the state is looking upon them to come forward and counter this pandemic. We have already seen a disaster which has threatened humanity and loss of valuable lives,” the court said while rejecting the petitions.
The mandatory rural service rule makes health care accessible to those in remote villages and also exposes students to real-life situations, outside an academic environment. The government for its part should provide certain basic amenities, since one of the reasons why trainees shy away from rural service is the lack of proper accommodation. While the students may be eager to earn huge pay-packets — and there is nothing wrong in it — they should also realise that the first motto of the profession they have chosen, is service to mankind.