UP Govt Mulling To Provide Free MBBS Education To Those Ready To Serve Rural Areas
24 December, Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh government is considering to launch an innovative scheme to provide free MBBS education to the students if they fill a bond to serve the rural areas of the state.
The programme has been chalked out to meet the shortage of doctors in the rural hospitals.
Official sources here today said in a desperate bid to ensure that doctors work in state-run hospitals and health institutes, UP government is mulling making MBBS course free for students willing to sign a bond to serve 10 years in government hospitals once they finish their course. The bond worth Rs 1 or Rs 1.5 crore will be filled up by the students at the time of admission.
Officials said the state government was working to retain doctors in state-run hospitals. This is one of the recommendations that has come to us by an expert study group finding ways to provide better health care in UP.
” If all goes well, 30 per cent of the total MBBS seats will be reserved for students willing to fill up bond and work in state-run hospitals, and remaining 70 per cent will be open to others. These 30 per cent students won’t be charged any fee for the four-year course,” the official said.
Health care in UP at present is suffering because of greener pastures in private health market, thus forcing doctors to stay away from government hospitals.
Government figures say that at any given point of time in a year, there are around 4,000 vacant posts of doctors in the public hospitals. The sanctioned strength of doctors in 157 district hospitals, 800 CHCs and 3600 PHCs across the state is 16,284.
According to health officials, many energetic doctors with good clinical hands are finding it difficult to work in government hospitals with no private practice being allowed. As a result, a number of them take voluntary retirement to stay away from government hospitals. In such a situation, introducing bond will fill up the vacant posts in government health institutes.