The MBBS batch of 2020 of the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) in Rohtak, Haryana has expressed "inability" to appear for the annual examinations, which begin on December 26, 2022.
In a letter to the Director of PGIMS Rohtak, the students state that since they have been on strike for the last 44 days, against the Haryana government bond policy for medical graduates, they have missed their classes and their clinical postings. As a result, the students declare that it is "not possible" for them to appear for the University exams.
The students have placed the blame solely on the government of Haryana, claiming that the government's inability to fulfil their demands and release a gazette notification regarding the changes to the bond policy announced by the Chief Minister of Haryana, after a meeting with the protesting students in Chandigarh.
Protests have been raging at PGIMS Rohtak, and other state medical colleges in Haryana over the bond policy which requires graduates of government medical colleges to deposit Rs 40 lakh by initiating a loan with IDBI Bank. The students are then asked to serve for seven years at government hospitals in order to ensure they have job opportunities right after they graduate and to cater to the requirements of these hospitals. If they do not serve in government colleges, they have to repay the loan taken by them from IDBI bank at the start of their academic career.
However, the students now claim that there are not enough jobs at state-run medical colleges, and the bond policy dilutes "merit," excluding those students who cannot afford to deposit that amount at the time of their admission from those opportunities.
After meeting these students in Chandigarh in November, Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar announced that the bond amount will be reduced to Rs 30 lakh and the term of service to five years. "More importantly, the CM also announced that if the students take a job at a private hospital or practice and their income is at the same level as that of an entry-level government medical officer in the state, the student will be exempt from paying the loan, and the government will fulfil the EMIs instead. This announcement gave us hope, but there has been no official word or confirmation from the state government since then. And therefore we have had to continue the protests," says Pankaj Bittu, a second-year MBBS student of PGIMS Rohtak.
The students place the blame solely on the state government for their inability to write these exams, as stated in their letter. They add that they are at risk of suffering "great academic loss in the future" if they miss these examinations. "They need to expedite the process of releasing a notification on the announcements made because our entire careers are at stake," Pankaj adds.
The students have also filed a PIL in the Haryana High Court over the issue. The matter was also mentioned in the Rajya Sabha on December 13, during the Parliament's winter session by Member of Parliament from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Sushil Kumar Gupta. In his reply, Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare said that the policy was a state subject. He also added that medical graduates should be given the "opportunity to serve" after they complete their education.
