Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao introduced an amendment to the Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act, 2012 on Tuesday. This amendment aims to exempt candidates who have completed medical courses from compulsory rural service.
The proposed amendment suggests replacing the requirement of one year of compulsory rural service with the option to fill existing vacancies as specified by the state government. This amendment is intended to allow the health department to utilize the services of doctors only for the vacant positions.
Initially, the Act was implemented due to a shortage of medical professionals in government hospitals. Under the previous policy, graduates of medical courses were obligated to serve in government hospitals for one year in order to obtain a certificate. However, with an increasing number of students earning masters degrees in medicine and MBBS, the government has decided to limit the mandatory one-year service of doctors to available vacancies.
The state government retains the authority to determine the stipend for medical students engaged in compulsory service. The amendment bill also outlines an exemption from compulsory rural service for candidates selected for central or state government positions.
Over 3,000 medical students had registered for the one-year compulsory rural service. However, there are only 1,900 vacancies available. Through this amendment, the mandatory service will be restricted to these vacant posts.
In an effort to address the shortage of medical professionals in government hospitals, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has proposed an amendment to the Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act, 2012. This amendment seeks to exempt medical graduates from the obligation of serving in rural areas.
The proposed amendment suggests replacing the current requirement of one year of compulsory rural service with the option to fill existing vacancies as specified by the state government. This change aims to allow the health department to effectively utilize the services of doctors by assigning them to vacant positions.