J&K Govt mulls mandatory service bonds for MD, MS students from outside

Srinagar, Dec 4: The J&K government is contemplating a mandatory two-year service bond for medical students from other states and union territories pursuing MD and MS here as part of the broader efforts to address grievances around medical education policies, Minister for Health and Medical Education, Sakeena Masood said Wednesday.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, the Health Minister, who met a delegation of MD and MS aspirants from J&K, said, “The issue (service bonds) is genuine. The outside doctors pursuing MD and MS in J&K are not asked for service bonds but aspirants (doctors) from J&K studying outside are asked for 2 to 3 years of service bonds.”

The minister said she had already discussed it with the Secretary Health and Medical Education.

“The department is examining it. We might order at least 2 years of service bond from doctors not belonging to J&K and studying here,” she said.

A delegation of MD and MS aspirants met Masood on Wednesday and voiced concerns over the alleged injustices stemming from the recently revised reservation policy.

The aspirants highlighted how the policy had significantly reduced the Open Merit (OM) quota, impacting opportunities for unreserved students, and presented demands for policy rationalisation, fair service bonds, and revisions to existing reservation rules.

The delegation members said that they apprised the minister that the OM quota had been shrunk to a mere 30 to 40 percent for MD and MS owing to the revisions in policy brought about recently.

They argued that this policy undermines the merit and efforts of unreserved students. The aspirants, who submitted a memorandum to Masood, highlighted three key demands.

Firstly, they sought the rationalisation of the reservation policy, arguing that the current policy is arbitrary and discriminatory.

Secondly, they demanded the eradication of Rule 17 of the Reservation Rules-2005, which they claim gives an undue advantage to reserved categories.

Lastly, they sought the introduction of service bonds for all PG courses and MBBS, with a minimum period of five years and a penalty of Rs 10 lakh and opting out of All-India Quota.

The memorandum submitted by the aspirants highlights the plight of medical students in J&K, who they said were struggling to cope with the current reservation policy.

The aspirants said that they were hopeful that their demands would be met, and that the reservation policy would be rationalised to ensure a fair and merit-based system. They expressed satisfaction with the meeting, stating that the Health Minister was patient and assured them of all possible help.

They vowed to follow up on the issue rigorously and hoped to meet Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in the coming days.

The issue of reservations has been brewing up in J&K for the past few months, with many believing that it undermines the importance of merit.

With the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examinations making the first list of MD and MS selectees public, there has been widespread discontent among aspirants not belonging to reserved categories. Only 29.6 percent of candidates belonging to the OM category have made it to the list.