Doctors' Association for Social Equality

by

Dr. Umesh Kapil, Professor, AIIMS

7. Diphtheria, measles on a killing spree. The Times of India, New Delhi, 2004; pp 12.

Source: The Hindu http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/08/09/stories/2007080950660100.htm

Thiruvananthapuram: The Government has decided to impose one-year Compulsory Rural Service (CRS) on students passing the MBBS/ Medical PG degree/DNB or Diploma from Government-run Medical Colleges.
It will be mandatory for those students also who secure admission for medical PG/DNB or Diploma courses under Government quota in self-financing and cooperative medical colleges.
The doctors will be given a monthly pay of Rs.15,000 with an additional Rs.5,000 for those serving in difficult rural areas. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting convened by Health Secretary Vishwas Mehta here on Tuesday.
The Government has also decided that it will send advisory to the State Public Service Commission to debar candidates who have not fulfilled the CRS obligation, from seeking employment in either State or Central Government service. Doctors will not be considered eligible to appear for any higher examination unless they have completed one-year CRS.
The diploma students, however, need do rural service of only six months this year. From next year onwards, this will be for a year.

The Government has also made it clear that it may enforce the regulation of the Medical Council of India, which says that action be taken against a physician posted in a rural area, if he is found to be absent on more than two occasions during inspection by Health Department authorities.
Legal action and cancellation of registration will also be considered against those doctors who fail to fulfil the bonded obligation to serve in rural areas, the Government has warned.
The decision to cut short the CRS for medical PG students from two years to one year has been welcomed by the Junior Doctors’ Forum, which had been actively campaigning for this.
The bonded obligation on PG doctors to work for two years for the Government on a monthly pay of Rs.15,000 had met with stiff resistance.

From http://in.news.yahoo.com/071101/211/6mpo4.html

Six-year-old Prakash’s parents came to Mumbai all the way from Rewa in Madhya Pradesh to get him treated for an acute heart problem. But, inspite of taking an appointment for Thursday, they were asked to come back later as resident doctors across Maharashtra's medical colleges were on a strike.

“We have been asked to come later, now we don't have money for all this,” Prakash's mother, Seema Manglani said.

Mumbai witnessed many banner-wielding agitators on Thursday but they certainly did not conform to the image of compassionate doctors. The agitating doctors were protesting against the government's decision to impose compulsory rural internships for every course after MBBS.

According to the new course guidelines, three years of internship is required after post graduation and five years internship after super specialisation, increasing the total education time to 22 years.

However, doctors say rural hospitals are not equipped enough to afford them satisfactory practice.

"If government doesn’t have infrastructure at municipal and basic levels how is it telling that infrastructure is waiting for us there,” member of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, Dr. Vasant said.

Like every other citizen the doctor also has the right to follow a profession of his choice the way he wants to, but the corollary is – what about the patients' right to a normal and healthy life?

(With inputs from Aruna Ramesh)

From http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/09/13/stories/2007091354441003.htm

On rural service









The decision of the Union Health Ministry to introduce compulsory rural service for medical students needs to be coupled with legislation which ensures basic facilities for doctors who are posted in the villages. Most of the government health facilities are in a sorry state. They are left to fend for themselves when it comes to infrastructure and support staff. Most of the quarters available for the medical staff are in a dilapidated state. If the work atmosphere is good, there are excellent avenues for professional growth and research, and there is transparency in recruitment and transfers, many of our doctors will remain in government hospitals, rural or urban.

Jeevan Kuruvilla,

Vellore

* * *

The concept of compulsory rural service is no doubt noble. But the plight of doctors posted in villages is miserable. There is virtually no infrastructure and there is acute shortage of medicines, communication facilities, and ambulance services. Doctors can hardly discharge their duties. Students will simply while away their time to fulfil the mandatory requirement. It will turn out to be a national waste.

K.R.P. Gupta,

New York

* * *

If students are forced to serve in the rural areas, villagers will become guinea pigs. Doctors with some years of practice should be asked to serve in the villages. Their licences should be renewed only if they do so.

C.G. Senthilkumar,

Washington

* * *

A fresh graduate is himself a learner. Agreed, there is a dire need for doctors in villages but not inexperienced ones. Why should young doctors be made scapegoats to camouflage the government’s failure to upgrade the infrastructure in the PHCs? The cause would be better served if adequate diagnostic facilities, beds and paramedical staff are provided in village medical centres.

Shivam Sharma,

Aligarh

* * *

What will happen if defence personnel refuse postings in the border areas or hostile terrains citing various reasons? The students of medicine should look at the one-year rural posting as an opportunity to serve the poor who are desperately in need of good doctors. One year will pass, but the commitment to serve the poor will be strengthened.

V. Balachander,

Thanjavur

* * *

The medicos should understand that the opportunity to serve the rural people is a godsend to them. Earning the respect and love of poor villagers is more valuable than money.

G.N. Devaraj,

Bhavanisagar

* * *

I am of the view that compulsory rural service should be extended to all professionals. Engineers should be sent to villages to sort out water supply and sanitation issues and assist in the construction of roads and bridges. Veterinary surgeons can improve the condition and yield of livestock. Students of law can ensure that legal disputes are nipped in the bud. Teachers should be compulsorily attached to rural schools.
And all people’s representatives should be forced to spend at least one week every month in villages and obtain a certificate from the panchayat. These steps will ensure the overall improvement of rural areas and reduce the movement of villagers to cities.

Vinod Garg,

Hyderabad

Copyright: 1995 - 2006 The Hindu

From http://www.indiaenews.com/health/20071025/77129.htm

The tenure of short service commission (SSC) doctors in the Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) has been extended from 10 to 14 years, with the cabinet Thursday approving the move.

'With the extended tenure, SSC doctors will also be eligible for time-scale promotions as applicable to permanent commission doctors,' Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi told reporters here after a cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

'This decision will help mitigate the shortage of officers in the AFMS. It will bring about parity with the existing time scale promotions available to the permanent commissioned officers and meet the career aspirations of SSC officers in the AFMS,' Dasmunsi added.

The existing 10-year tenure of SSC officers in the AFMS was based on the tenure earlier prevalent in the three services, a defence ministry background note said.

'However, the total tenure of SSC officers in the three services has already been increased from 10 to 14 years. Therefore, there was a need for revision of tenure of SSC officers of the AFMS on a similar pattern,' the note stated.

'The AFMS cadre is also experiencing a shortage of doctors due to a high rate of attrition. This (extended tenure) will reduce the deficiency and the experience of (SSC) officers can also be utilised for a longer tenure,' the note added.

From http://www.indiaenews.com/politics/20070907/69196.htm

From correspondents in Tamil Nadu, India, 10:30 PM IST

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss may have good intentions but even in his home state Tamil Nadu, his allies the DMK and the Left parties are opposed to his suggestion that medical college students be given their degrees only when they complete a year's service in rural areas.

Ramadoss' proposal was criticised Friday by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi even as the minister announced the country's first 200-acre medical park, to be set up in Chengalpet, outside Chennai, as a major manufacturing centre for high-end medical hardware.

He said that most medical students came from rural areas and that, 'there could not be two opinions that medical students should have concern for the rural people'.

However, the extension of the medical programme (for the MBBS degree) by one year for rural service 'is not acceptable', Karunanidhi said.

Ramadoss had drawn criticism Wednesday from the Left parties that supported a black badge demo by medical students across the state.

Communist Party of India state secretary D. Pandian said that a majority of the students were from rural areas, 'but the government should not increase the duration of the MBBS course, as it would affect the students, particularly the girls'.

Speaking in Tindivanam on Monday, the health minister had told the media that his ministry was mulling a proposal to award the degree from next year 'only to those who complete rural postings'.

He said, 30,000 medical graduates across the country will have to work for four months each in the district headquarter hospitals, taluka hospitals and primary health centres under the supervision of the district medical officer.

Following this, on Wednesday, medical students across Tamil Nadu went on a flash strike. Nearly 1,300 students and house surgeons, including 500 girls staged a black-badge demonstration.

திருச்சியில் மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மாணவர்கள் ஆர்ப்பாட்டம்
திருச்சி, அக். 23: மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மாணவர்களிடம் அளித்த உறுதிமொழியை மத்திய அமைச்சர் மீறுவதாகக் கூறி, அவரைக் கண்டித்து திருச்சி கி.ஆ.பெ.விசுவநாதம் மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மாணவர்கள் செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடத்தினர்.
"எம்பிபிஎஸ் படிப்புக் காலத்தை ஐந்தரை ஆண்டுகளிலிருந்து ஆறரை ஆண்டுகளாக உயர்த்துவது தொடர்பான பிரச்னையைத் தொடர்ந்து, மாணவர்களுடன் பேச்சுவார்த்தை நடத்திய மத்திய சுகாதாரத் துறை அமைச்சர், கோரிக்கைகளை உயர்நிலைக் குழு அமைத்து பரிசீலிப்பதாக உறுதி அளித்தார்.
ஆனால், தற்போது அவர் உறுதிமொழியை மீறி செயல்பட்டு வருகிறார். மேலும், தமிழக மருத்துவ மாணவர்களை வட மாநிலங்களில் கட்டாயமாகப் பணி அமர்த்தவும் முயற்சி செய்து வருகிறார்.
மத்திய அமைச்சரின் இந்த நடவடிக்கையைக் கண்டித்து, திருச்சி மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மாணவர்கள் மற்றும் பயிற்சி மருத்துவர்கள் கருப்புப் பட்டை அணிந்து வகுப்புக்குச் சென்றனர்.
இதைத் தொடர்ந்து, தமிழ்நாடு மருத்துவ மாணவர்கள் கூட்டமைப்பு சார்பில் கல்லூரி வாயிலில் மாலை ஆர்ப்பாட்டம் நடைபெற்றது.
கூட்டமைப்பின் மாநில அமைப்பாளர் எஸ். வரபிரசாத் ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்துக்குத் தலைமை வகித்து, கோரிக்கைகளை விளக்கிப் பேசினார். கொட்டும் மழையில் நடைபெற்ற ஆர்ப்பாட்டத்தில் நூற்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட மருத்துவக் கல்லூரி மாணவ, மாணவிகள் பங்கேற்றனர்.

From http://www.hinduonnet.com/2007/10/24/stories/2007102457690300.htm

TIRUCHI: The announcement of Union Minister Anbumani Ramadoss on Friday that the proposal on one-year compulsory rural medical stint for the students would be drafted by December triggered vociferous protests from the student fraternity in the city.

About 120 house surgeons and 450 undergraduates and postgraduates took to roads after college hours on Tuesday, bracing heavy downpour. They raised slogans demanding the withdrawal of the directive.

Earlier, the students attended classes wearing black badges as a mark of protest.

Two representatives from 13 medical colleges in Tamil Nadu would meet shortly and discuss further course of action. The Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association (TNMSA) has contacted the medical student’s association of AIIMS, JIPMER, and medical colleges in Orissa and Maharastra in a bid to organise a nation-wide protest.

To
The News Editor,


Dear Sir,

On behalf of our organization a Press Meet will be held. Kindly send your reporter and publish our news.

Date : 23/10/2007 – Tuesday
Time : 12.00 Noon
Venue : Chennai Press Club
S – 5, Government Estate, Anna Salai, Chennai – 2.

Subject : Compulsory Rural Service. Next course of Action.

From http://www.hinduonnet.com/2006/09/30/stories/2006093018270500.htm
A function planned in Madurai on October 7

CHENNAI : The Doctors' Association for Social Equality will organise a function in Madurai on October 7 where Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi will be felicitated, said G. R. Ravindranath, general secretary of the association, here on Friday.

Addressing presspersons, Dr. Ravindranath said the function was organised to thank the Government for its announcement of job permanency for temporary doctors and for its attempts to resolve other issues relating to the Health Department.

The day's event scheduled at Raja Muthiah Mandram in Madurai would begin with a social equality conference at 10 a.m. and Dr. Vasantha Kandasamy would inaugurate the programme.

M. Naganathan, Deputy Chairman, State Planning Commission, C. Mahendran, State Assistant Secretary, CPI, and N. Sethuraman, president of Moovendar Munnetra Kazhagam were expected to participate in the programme.

In the evening on the same day, a felicitation programme would be organised in which Mr. Karunanidhi would release a souvenir.

M. Krishnaswamy, TNCC (I) president, S. Ramadoss, founder, PMK, K. Veeramani, Dravidar Kazhagam president, T. Pandian, State Secretary, CPI, and N. Varadharajan, State Secretary, CPI (M), would participate in the programme, Dr. Ravindranath added.

Staff Reporter

UP IN ARMS: Members of the Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum protesting against "caste discrimination" at AIIMS in New Delhi on Thursday. Photo: Anu Pushkarna NEW DELHI: Demanding strict action based on the findings of the recently released Thorat Committee report on caste discrimination at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here, senior faculty members, resident doctors and students of AIIMS and Maulana Azad Medical College held a dharna at Jantar Mantar in the Capital on Thursday under the banner of Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum (PMSF).
Stern action demanded "We demand stern and efficacious action against individuals identified by the Thorat Committee, who have been involved in perpetuating caste-based discrimination at AIIMS. The committee has clearly highlighted the role of AIIMS director P. Venugopal in playing a pro-active role in the organisation of the anti-reservation agitation,'' said PMSF spokesperson Vikas Bajpai. "From the report of the committee, what was being referred to as allegations of caste discrimination till yesterday have now been documented as evidenced facts,'' he added.

The protestors are demanding that Dr. Venugopal be removed from the post of AIIMS Director with immediate effect in the larger public interest. "We also want the Government to redress the loss suffered by individual students, resident doctors and faculty members belonging to the reserved category due to acts of omission and commission of the Institute administration. Also, the recommendations made by the committee to resolve the caste discrimination on the campus should be given effect to,'' said a PMSF member.