Odisha gears up to plug brain drain of doctors; revises medical bond policy

Bhubaneswar:  In a bid to check brain drain of doctors, Odisha government today revised the Medical Bond Policy in which the MBBS students graduating from State-run medical colleges will have to serve two years under Odisha government after completing their PG and Super Specialist courses. Moreover, the penalty amount has been increased from Rs 36 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for medical PG and Rs 2 crore for super speciality students, for students who leave the state after completing the courses here.

The bond policy is compulsory for all candidates taking admission in government medical colleges, either under the State quota or the all-India quota in postgraduate medical or dental courses.

It is pertinent to mention here that Odisha is also mulling to increase the retirement age of doctors in medical colleges from 68 years to 70 years.

“We have finalized our Medical Bond Policy. The medicos who wish to further pursue PG (post graduation) after MBBS from Odisha, will have to deposit minimum bond of Rs 1.5 crore. Those who wish to pursue Super Specialty course will have to deposit minimum Rs 2 crore.”

As the amount was very less in the past, the medicos used to migrate which created shortage of doctors in Odisha.

Earlier, Odisha had approved a proposal to create 2,000 doctor posts in the rank of Group-A (junior branch) of Odisha Medical and Health Services (OMHS) cadre. The doctors will be engaged in treatment of patients at Primary Health Centres (PHC), Community Health Centres (CHC) and Sub Divisional Hospitals in the State.

The creation of posts of Leave Training Reserve Medical Officer (LTRMO) is also being seen as a crucial decision in bridging the gap in the number of recruited and actually present doctors at health centres.