Talking about employment bonds I would like to bring this very issue in front of my friends where the Government is trying to force doctors to join rural villages by making one year rural posting mandatory before medical PG course. The rural posting is a mandatory eligibility criterion for admission of young doctors into post graduate medical courses. The incentives also include double salary and other amenities being made available. Earlier the Government had only called for special incentives for the doctors who join rural areas but now they had to make it compulsory because of the low turnout of doctors willing to take up their jobs. This compulsion has not gone well with the students as according to them 1year is a long period to spend in villages. It takes 5 years to complete a MBBS degree after which a 1 year internship and a 3 year MD has to be completed before they can start practicing in private clinics or hospitals in order to earn their salary. A full quota of 9 years of struggle before being able to earn whereas in comparison an engineer or a MBA can earn in 4 to 6 years.
In Orissa the situation is very bad. Against a requirement of 12,000 doctors in the state only about 2,500 doctors are working with about 70% of the health institutes in rural areas’ running without doctors especially the KBK region where the health situation is worst. Doctors are afraid of the prevailing health situation there add to that the fear of naxalities attacks. We must all remember the various NGO’s working very hard in order to improve the health conditions over there. Recently concern worldwide had also sent us a mail for an innovative idea worth a prize money of Rs 1, 00,000 for improving the performance of health workers in the remote communities of Orissa. If the new doctors do not join the rural areas then the whole health sector would fail in Orissa. The doctors on the other hand have threatened for a mass resignation movement and went on strike. But after government invoked ESMA the doctors postponed their strike but are raising their demand for better incentives.
Hence the doctors who would complete their PG diploma and degree in 2012 and 2013 from both the government and private hospitals would have to sign a bond and join government hospitals. Government would pay the doctors an honorarium of Rs. 20,000(Rs. 23,000 in case of diploma and Rs. 25,000 in case of degree holders). In case of any violation, the doctors have to pay back an amount of around Rs. 15- 20 lakhs. These doctors are expected to be posted at Area hospitals, Community Health Centres and District Hospitals.
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