Santosh Andhale/Mumbai Mirror

Mumbai, Jun 30: Medicos who clear their Masters degree exams won’t be given their certificates until they agree to do a 3-yr rural stint, or pay Rs 15 lakh

Mumbai, Jun 30: Doctors who recently cleared their masters degree in medicine and surgery exams were only allowed to see their results on Friday; they were told they would get the certificates only after they sign a bond for a three-year rural stint or pay Rs 15 lakh.

The doctors will be required to do rural stints as and when the government asks them to.

Most doctors don’t want to sign the bond and a majority don’t have Rs 15 lakh to give the government. And without the certificates, they cannot join any hospital.

Sources say this year, the government has put greater stress on medical officership — as the rural stint is called in official parlance — due to the outbreak of diseases such as dengue, chikungunya, malaria and yellow fever

“When we approached the office,” says Dr Shekhar  Raval, who passed his ENT surgery exams from J J hospital, “the clerk refused to give us the results saying the Dean had ordered him to withhold certificates.”

“Most have decided not to pay nor sign the bond,” says Dr Yoganand Patil, spokesperson of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, “This is very harsh. If the government keeps adding internship to our careers, when do we start practising?”

Dr Himanshu Soni asks why doctors are singled out, when such rules don’t apply to other vocations.

Authorities say they are helpless. “It is the government’s decision,” says Dr Parvin Shingare, Dean of J J Hospital.

“It is a rule and everyone will have to follow it,” says Dr W B Tayde, director of Directorate of Medical education, to serve society for a while.

The rural stint will not only improve the quality of health services across the state, DMER feels, but also help doctors prepare for future practice.