Medical students on Thursday staged a protest at Jantar Mantar against compulsory a one-year rural posting before becoming eligible to sit for post-graduation entrance examination and demanding that it should be made voluntary.
President of Delhi Medical Association (DMA) Dr. Anil Agarwal today said this decision will not serve any purpose for both the Government and the public.
"The course which was five and a half years including internship is now going to be six and a half years. The Government is going to add one year in the life of a medical student which is not going to serve any purpose either for the government or for the public because these students have only passed their MBBS and they don't have any practical experience," Dr. Agarwal said.
"If they are posted to a village dispensary where there is lack of facilities, what will they do there? They are supposed to work under supervision at this stage and not work independently. So if any mishap happens there, they are just going to be assaulted,' he added.
According to reports, in a directive to the Medical Council of India (MCI) last year, the Ministry had asked for extending the three-month rural posting to one year and include it in the MBBS curriculum. The idea was to attach the doctors to the Centre's National Rural Health Mission.
With the aim of improving rural healthcare in India, this decision will be applicable from the next academic session (2014-15) and all MBBS graduates seeking a post- graduate degree in medicine or surgery would have to work for one year in a village before they can take the PG entrance examination.
Police used water cannon to prevent the agitating mob from marching to Nirman Bhavan where the Health Ministry is located.
According to media reports, the Health Ministry has agreed to talk to a delegation of eight students and doctors on the issue.
