Bond rule: PGIMS docs end stir, MBBS students' protest still on

Rohtak/Chandigarh: A day after the Resident Doctors’ Association ( RDA ) of PGIMS, Rohtak, decided to withdraw from the ongoing strike against the bond policy for undergraduate students in the government medical colleges, the protesting MBBS students said on Friday they would continue their agitation.

A delegation of MBBS students and RDA members met chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on November 30 and discussed the issue with him, following which the resident doctors announced on Thursday their decision to withdraw from the strike.

In a letter to the vice-chancellor of the University of Health Sciences , Rohtak, the RDA said they held a general body meeting on December 1 and unanimously decided to withdraw from the strike with immediate effect and continue with regular hospital activities in the best interest of society.

The RDA also thanked the chief minister for his time and assurance regarding the amendments to the bond policy.

The MBBS students said they would not be bogged down by the RDA’s withdrawal from the strike and stick to their stand against the contentious policy.

Pankaj Bittu , one of the protesting MBBS students from the 2020 batch, said they would wait for the gazette notification about the amendments promised by the Khattar government and would decide on the future course of action after that.

On the RDA’s withdrawal, Pankaj said their seniors were still with them. They withdrew support because patient care can’t be suspended for a long time, he said, adding that it would defeat their purpose.

The MBBS students have been demanding amendments to the bond policy with additional clauses of reducing the bond period to one year and want the compulsory HCMS service bond and guarantee to be given by the Haryana government within two months of the MBBS students graduating.

Khattar had reduced the bond period from seven years to five years and lowered the bond amount from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 30 lakh. Besides this, he had assured that compulsory contractual employment for the students would be for one year.

The state government also made significant changes related to the repayment of the bond amount by the students, as those giving up government jobs would be asked to pay only if they get a significant raise in the salary or if their salaries were found to be much higher than government doctors.