NRHM stint to be equal to rural service

Mumbai: Now, medical services provided by doctors attached to the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) in the state, will be considered as part of their one-year rural bond service, said the state health department. It is mandatory for every student who has done his/her MBBS from the state’s medical colleges, to serve a period of one year in rural areas.

Last year, medical students who cleared their MBBS were considered for their post-graduate entrance exams, even if they had not completed the compulsory one year of  rural service. But now it is mandatory for them to do the service. How-ever, if a doctor completes his MBBS from a state medical college and joins the NRHM, his stint will be considered as complying with the mandatory bond service.

Directorate of Health Services’s Dr Sanjeev Ka-mble said, “All students who graduate from government-run medical colleges have to serve a one-year bond. But many students forge the papers and submit it to the government. This results in a shortfall of doctors in rural areas.”