With SC terming service bonds as ‘bonded labour’, can J&K formalise it?

Srinagar, Apr 7: J&K Health and Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo’s recent promise to make service bonds mandatory for out-of-state doctors pursuing medical degrees here could fizzle out even before it takes shape with Supreme Court having vehemently criticise All-India Quota students ‘forced to serve in remote areas’ terming it as ‘bonded labour’.

Announced on March 17, 2025, in the J&K Legislative Assembly, the policy requires postgraduate medical students to serve J&K for a period of post training yet to be decided. On April 4, the Supreme Court, in a case related to the Uttarakhand High Court Judgment about service bonds, raised eyebrows about the fairness of the policy. It argued that medical students could not be treated as bonded laborers and made to work in areas that they are not acquainted with. It asked how states could impose a penalty of lakhs of rupees on students for not honoring the bond. The SC also slammed the policy where states, as per reports, where a subsidised fees was bartered with a mandatory service bond to serve in difficult and inaccessible areas of states and UTs.

However, the Heath Minister’s announcement reflects the difficulties faced by the administration and health department in maintaining healthy doctor strength in rural and far-flung areas. “They earn degrees on the money of our people,” the Health Minister stated in the Assembly, emphasising that those benefiting from J&K resources should repay the people with service.

The policy, yet to be formalised in J&K, targets PG students from outside J&K pursuing education in one of the nine Government Medical Colleges here. J&K surrendered 50 per cent  of its nearly 600 PG seats to the AIQ. With J&K’s peripheral and rural hospitals under duress due to shortage of doctors, especially specialists J&K’s doctor-patient ratio is not so promising at 1:1800. With only half its PG seats for local residents, J&K loses 300 postgraduates annually, while they have no obligation to work here. Many stakeholders believe that this brain drain can be partially plugged only by bonds. In the past, the Supreme Court has upheld such bonds legitimising states’ rights to recover educational investments. Many advocates of mandatory service bonds argue it would align J&K’s underserved regions, from Gurez to Karnah. On social media platforms, doctors, aspirants and other stakeholders are united in demanding a set-up where the PGs are retained in J&K after they complete their education and are able to serve here. “Why train doctors for other states when our hospitals are empty?” one user posted.