The Karnataka Compulsory Service Act 2012 that came into effect for the first time for MBBS graduates of the 2015 batch, says they have to mandatorily fulfil a year of medical service in a government hospital.
A section of Karnataka MBBS graduates from the 2015 batch took to Twitter on Sunday, June 13, demanding that the government slash four months from their one-year mandatory service. This was raised after the Karnataka government allegedly delayed their appointment to the mandatory service by four months. As per the Compulsory Service Act 2012 of Karnataka, every MBBS graduate has to mandatorily fulfil a year of medical service in a government hospital. The appointment for this will be made “on the basis of merit through the process of counseling”. This Act was applied to students who were admitted to the MBBS course from July 24, 2015. How this Act has split the 2015 MBBS batch The MBBS graduates of the 2015 batch will be the first ones to undertake the mandatory one-year service. According to them, the issue began after the government decided to make the one-year mandatory service specific to a date, by making it applicable only to students who applied for admission after July 24, 2015 for the 2015 batch. Admissions take place over months for the same batch. And in 2015, it took place from June to September in rounds. While those who were admitted after July 24, 2015 had to do the compulsory one-year service, those who were admitted before did not – effectively creating a split in the batch. This led some medical graduates of the 2015 batch to file a petition against this discrimination on March 15, 2021. The case is still pending according to the High Court of Karnataka official website. What caused the delay in counselling for mandatory service? However, the graduates who took to Twitter on Sunday told TNM that they had four months of doing nothing as the counselling for mandatory service was delayed. They alleged that the authorities delayed the process due to the 2015 batch’s ongoing litigation. The counselling, according to the graduates, started on June 8 after a delay of four months, and they will have to join for work from June 24. Why are the doctors who joined MBBS in 2015 are looking for answers from the government. This thread helps to know their concerns and possible solutions to it! #clarityoncompulsoryservice pic.twitter.com/OxadEXluT9 — dayanand sagar L (@dayanandsagarL1) June 13, 2021 “First, the government making the Compulsory Service Act 2012 date-based itself was a problem and it effectively split our batch in two. Few of us students wanted to finish this service and be done with it rather than wait for the litigation to be over. For those of us who were ready to do the service also, we had to wait for four months doing nothing,” said Dr Surya who is an MBBS graduate from Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences. “Now, they have finally started counselling but they will count the year from now. The delay was caused because they formulated this one-year mandatory service based on a date without proper legal consultation. The government is the reason for this mess, so we must not be victimised for the government’s mistake,” he added. The Act states that without completion of the mandatory service they “shall also not be eligible to permanent registration under the State under Karnataka Medical Registration Act”. It further states that there may be a penalty of Rs 15 lakh that could be extended to Rs 30 lakh for those who fail to follow the Act. Additionally, many graduates have demanded that the government must ensure that once they are taken as junior resident doctors, post counselling, they are provided proper accommodation near their place of work. According to a notification dated June 8, 2021, by the Commissionerate of Health & Family Welfare Services, “No accommodation will be provided by the government.” The other issue that the graduates expressed is that no specific amount of salary or stipend had been mentioned in the notification and have demanded the same. The graduates also urged the government to create more job vacancies as the current number of vacancies are only 1,667 whereas the total number of medical students in the batch, across the state, was 3,185 according to Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS). Also read: With stipend and no COVID allowance, Karnataka medicos question way forward
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