Health ministry mulls guidelines to scrap bond policy for docs

NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry is working to finalise guidelines to do away with the bond policy for doctors based on the National Medical Commission’s recommendations in this regard, official sources said.

According to the bond policy, doctors are required to serve for a specific period in state hospitals after the completion of their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, failing which they have to pay a penalty (amount specified beforehand by every state and UT) to the state or medical college.

In August 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the bond policy of states and observed that certain governments impose rigid conditions. It suggested that the Centre and the then Medical Council of India should frame a uniform policy regarding the compulsory service to be rendered by doctors trained in government institutions which will be applicable across states, an official source said. The amount of bond varies from state to state.