MBBS Bond Service Removed

The Maharashtra government has removed the compulsory one year service bond for MBBS students from government aided municipal and private unaided medical colleges.

Maharashtra MBBS Bond Service: Overview

Why the State Rolled Back the Bond Rule

A government resolution issued on July 23 said that only those graduates who had already joined their allotted bond service posting before the order will still have to complete it. Graduates who were not allotted a post or were allotted one but had not joined have been excused. The government said that the rise in medical colleges has increased the number of MBBS graduates every year but public departments do not have enough available posts for all of them.

Impact on Medical Graduates

Because of this many eligible students could not complete the social responsibility service on time and this affected their admission to PG medical course, The resolution also said that many fresh MBBS graduates were doing the service mainly to become eligible for PG studies and were therefore not able to give their focus on the posting. It also noted that newly passed MBBS doctors may not be fully prepared to handle emergency services.

Doctors Welcome Relief but Seek Better Infrastructure

The Maharashtra Association for Resident Doctors welcomed the decision and called it progressive and long awaited. The group said the move will reduce delays in service allotment, remove hurdles in postgraduate education and ease administrative problems faced by young doctors. It added that graduates can now move ahead with higher studies and career plans without unnecessary waiting. At the same time the association asked the government to focus on strengthening healthcare infrastructure instead of only increasing MBBS seats.