The protests against the Haryana bond policy that has been imposed on the MBBS students continue as students form a human chain and wear black bands in protest against the Haryana bond policy in Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College (KCGMC) campus, Haryana. A protest march was also supposed to be held at the Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) campus where the students were going to march up to the District Collector’s (DC) office and submit a memorandum today, November 9. The march has been cancelled because the DC is not available. “We were supposed to gather around 8 am and start the protest march by 10 am, but we have postponed it for later as of now,” says Hardik Bansal, a second-year PGIMS student.
The students are also continuously campaigning on Twitter with Twitter storms. Today, November 9, they will be storming the social media platform at 5 pm with hashtags #shameonharyanagovernment and #savemerit.
Police brutality and the protest continue
Recently, in the early hours of November 5, students who were staging a sit-in protest at the PGIMS campus at the time were forcefully dragged and detained by the police force. Students complained of being manhandled, which drew criticism against the state’s actions. The students were let go later in the evening the next day. Hardik says, “The Chief Minister assured us that no case will be filed against any student, but we have nothing in writing. Section 144 of CrPC (The Code Of Criminal Procedure) that was imposed has also been removed, thus, we have taken the spot back to stage our protests.”
The site was allegedly cleared by the police force to run the college convocation smoothly where the Chief Minister, Governor and Home Minister were guests. Following the police actions, the movement gained more traction and doctors' associations like Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) even declared that they would escalate the movement nationwide.
Meeting with the Chief Minister
On the day of the convocation (November 5), Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar met a group of students. As per the minutes of the meeting, which was shared with EdexLive, the meeting took place around 2 pm on November 5 with the students of batch 2020 and 2021 and in the presence of Vice-Chancellor Dr G Anupama and Indian Administrative Service Officer Dr Aditya. The students put their demands forward to the CM directly to completely revert the bond; however, the Minister informed the students that would not be possible.
Background
The Haryana medical students are protesting the State Government’s new bond policy, which would oblige those enrolled in government medical colleges to pay a bond of Rs 10 lakh a year in addition to their tuition. This policy is a part of the controversial policy that the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Haryana, published in the 2020 Gazette. Despite its launch in 2020, the pupils were exempt from paying the amount because of the pandemic. However, colleges are now requiring students to pay. These students include freshers from the 2022 batch as well as those from the 2021 and 2020 batched. The bond requirement was previously only relevant in cases where doctors declined government employment, but the new policy requires that students pay the amount while enrolled in classes even if there is no assurance of employment. The rule states that after getting their medical degrees, doctors must serve a total of seven years in government-run healthcare facilities to get their loans repaid by the government.
PGIMS Rohtak acts as the hub for all the government college medical students in Haryana because the main counselling process is held there. Additionally, it is one of the best medical schools in the country where the most deserving and successful and highly ranked candidates of the medical entrance test enrol into. The counselling at Rohtak stands cancelled, as of now, owing to the major protests at the site and the demands of the students. The state medical students from batches 2020, 2021 and 2022 as well as their parents and other allies have been staging protests at the campus. The protest is gaining more traction by the day with solidarity pouring in from the entire medical fraternity. Indian Medical Association (IMA), Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) and many others have openly shown their support towards the movement.
Change in bond policy
On November 3, the Haryana state administration changed the bond policy in response to demand from the students. No student would have to pay any bond money at the time of admission, according to their announcement; instead, they would just need to sign a bond-cum-loan arrangement with their college and the appropriate bank for the amount. If the student worked at state government facilities for seven years following graduation, the funding will be provided. However, those who opt not to work will have to pay for the bond out of pocket and they won’t be able to until they pay back their loans. Students are not happy with this minor amendment and consider this only as a means to appease certain of the agitated students. “They are trying to divide the students who are protesting,” says Pankaj Bittu, another PGIMS student, adding, “This only means they don’t have to pay immediately but the burden of a loan remains and without a guarantee of a job.”
