The Karnataka Cabinet on Thursday, October 19, decided to scrap mandatory one-year rural service for medical graduates. Though an official notice about the same is yet to be put out, this has led to mixed reactions among students, says State Convenor of the Indian Medical Association - Medical Students' Network (IMA-MSN) of Karnataka, Mithun M.
What is a one-year rural service? All MBBS medical outgoing graduates are required to register and serve one year of rural duty as per the Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act of 2012. This service has to be exercised by all MBBS, postgraduate (PG) and super speciality graduates.
No merit to merit
Speaking to EdexLive, Mithun alleged that earlier, students were allotted rural service irrespective of their merit score. However, it was mandatory for the student to be under a government quota, he adds.
"Now, the change is that students will be given rural service based on their merit scores. And it will be optional," he said. Although official notices are not out yet, Mithun hopes that it will be issued after the ongoing Dussehra holidays.
Pros and cons...
Stating the pros and cons, Mithun opines that there is mixed response among the students' circles regarding his. "A few students are happy about this as they need not undergo the mandatory exercise of rural service. On the other hand, those who may have financial issues are upset because they won't have any source of income," he said.
Adding more to this, Mithun said, "During the rural service, students were provided with a stipend of Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 per month. But now, with the scrapping of this ordinance, issues of unemployment and no source of income will erupt."
Reasons for scrapping
As per The Hindu, during the briefing of the cabinet decisions, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil termed posting outgoing MBBS and PG medical students for rural service as a "waste of human resources" and a burden on the government. Another point to think about here is vacant seats and registrations.
As per figures mentioned in The Hindu, in 2023-24, about 3,251 MBBS students registered for rural service while only 1,897 posts were vacant. It is reported that creating additional seats would impose a financial burden on the government.
Additionally, speaking on the stipends, Mithun alleges that the representatives in the cabinet meeting have cited stipends as one of the reasons for scrapping the ordinance. "They said that because of various welfare schemes, there is no budget to provide students with stipends," he alleged.
