Centre admits to shortfall of 8 lakh doctors
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 25
All postgraduate medical aspirants would be required to undergo a mandatory rural posting from the next academic session. Admitting to a shortfall of eight lakh doctors in the country and a consequent adverse impact on health delivery to villagers, the government today said it had made it compulsory for all MBBS pass-outs applying for post-graduation to do a combined rural posting for four months each in primary health centres, community health centres and district hospitals under the state government. A doctor on such posting would get a stipend of Rs 10,000 a month, to be paid by the state government.
Rural posting would, however, not be a precondition for doctors wishing to enter into practice, Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss today said in the Lok Sabha during question hour when Speaker Somnath Chatterjee asked him if the government was contemplating preconditions to ensure that doctors went for rural postings. “We had earlier wanted to make rural posting mandatory before issuing MBBS certificates, but the move was opposed by many MPs and others,” Ramadoss said.
The Centre is, however, changing the Medical Council of India guidelines to increase the number of PG pass-outs, currently a dismal 12,500 a year. Right now, one professor can teach only one PG-level student. “We are revising the ratio to enable one professor to teach two (even three) PG students,” Ramadoss said.
The move would add 12,500 PG holders to the poor talent pool in the country. As for MBBS holders, India has only seven lakh whereas the additional requirement is eight lakh. To meet the shortfall, the government is further relaxing MCI guidelines to set up more medical colleges in India; the medical college strength now is 289 (141 in public and 148 in private sector). Put together, these colleges produce only 33,000 MBBS holders a year, which is why the doctor-patient ratio remains poor at 1: 1,720.
In damage control, the government has decided to allow Indian doctors working abroad to practice here. Also, out of the total health ministry budget of Rs 16,500 crore announced in the Interim Budget, Rs 12,000 crore has been set aside for the National Rural Health Mission.
ref: The tribune Thursday, February 26, 2009, Chandigarh, India
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http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090226/main6.htm
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