Gujarat: More than 350 doctors passing out of govt medical colleges skipped rural service
Gandhinagar, Mar 20: More than 350 doctors who passed out of state-run medical colleges did not serve in rural areas as per the bond they had to sign at the time of admission, the Gujarat government informed the legislative Assembly on Monday.
Medical students in government-run colleges have to sign a bond promising to serve in rural areas for a year after completing their studies.
Doctors can break the bond by paying Rs 20 lakh to the state government after finishing their MBBS course and Rs 40 lakh after completing their post-graduation, state Health Minister Rushikesh Patel said while responding to a set of questions by Congress MLAs during Question Hour.
As on December 31, 2022, the state government is yet to recover Rs 18.25 crore from 359 doctors who had broken the bond and refused to serve in rural areas, he said.
He further informed the House that the state government has recovered Rs 139 crore from such doctors in the last three years and legal steps were also initiated against them.
To prevent fresh medical graduates from starting private practice, the state government does not issue required clearances and certificates until they pay the bond money, Patel said.
"Without the clearance, they cannot start private service. But we have seen that most of the MBBS students, who skip rural service, start preparing for NEET to get admission into PG courses. If they get admission to PG courses, they are again required to sign another bond of Rs 40 lakh, promising to serve for a year in rural areas," the minister said.
Thus, after completion of MBBS and PG from government-run colleges, doctors will be required to either serve for two years in rural areas or pay Rs 60 lakh as per the bond agreement, he said.
"To encourage PG doctors to serve in our hospitals, we have decided to change this rule of two years of rural service. Now, PG doctors will be exempted from paying Rs 60 lakh if they serve for one-and-a-half years in villages instead of two years," Patel said.
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Strict security measures in place in Mumbai for Messi's events at 2 venues Dec 14, say police
Mumbai (PTI): In view of Argentine superstar footballer Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai on Sunday, the city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police also said taking extra care to avoid any stampede-like situation and to prevent recurrence of the chaotic situation that unfolded in Kolkata during Messi's visit on Saturday as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake stadium here after failing to catch a clear glimpse of the football icon despite paying hefty sums for tickets.
Messi is expected to be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) in Mumbai on Sunday for a Padel GOAT Cup event followed by attending a celebrity football match. He is expected to proceed to the Wankhede Stadium for the GOAT India Tour main event around 5 pm.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in south Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said.
Expecting heavy crowd near the stadiums during Messi's visit, the city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, he said.
As the Mumbai police have the experience of security 'bandobast' during the victory parade of ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered, we are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans, he said.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said.
There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, according to him.
The police are also asking the organisers to provide all the required facilities to the fans inside the stadium, so that there will be no chaos, he said, adding the spectators have purchased tickets in the range of Rs 5,000 to 25,000. After paying so much of amount, any spectator expects proper services, while enjoying the event, he said.
The police are expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Besides this, more than 30,000 people are expected outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation, he said.
The organisers responsible for Messi's India visit recently came to Mumbai to discuss security arrangements. During the meeting, the Mumbai police asked them not to take the event lightly, according to the official.
After those requirements were fulfilled, the final security deployment was chalked out, he said.
Police has the standard procedure of the security arrangements inside the Wankhede Stadium, where people are barred from taking water bottles, metals objects, coins. Police are setting up watch towers near the stadiums and there will be traffic diversions, so that there is maximum space available to stand, according to the official.
Police are also appealing to the spectators to use public transport service for commuting and avoid personal vehicles to reach south Mumbai.
To avoid any stampede-like situation, police are also taking precautionary measures and will stop the fans some distance ahead of the stadium and public announcement systems will be used to guide the crowd. Barricades will be placed at various places to manage the crowd.
In case the crowd swells up beyond expectation, the police will divert people to other grounds and preparations in this regard underway, he said.
Additional police force has been deployed in south Mumbai to tackle any kind of situation, he said.
