Live
- Shubham Nigam: Transforming SaaS Growth Marketing with AI
- Convert those starts: Hemp wants Bangladesh batters to score big in second Test vs West Indies
- Grand Pushpayagam Celebrated at Venkanna Temple
- MLA Kuchukulla Rajesh Reddy Inspects Markandeya Lift Irrigation Project
- Government Committed to Village Development: MLA Dr. Rajesh Reddy
- Scientists Awareness on Natural Farming for Farmers
- Bavuma, Jansen, Coetzee return to playing XI for Test series opener against Sri Lanka
- CM’s post: Shiv Sena bats for Eknath Shinde, BJP pitches for Devendra Fadnavis
- Mount Dukono in Indonesia's North Maluku erupts, flight warning issued
- Constitution Day should not remain merely an event: MP Guv
50% reservation in PG seats for doctors serving in rural areas
In a bid to encourage government doctors to serve in remote areas, the Union government plans to provide them with reservation in postgraduate courses, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
​New Delhi: In a bid to encourage government doctors to serve in remote areas, the Union government plans to provide them with reservation in postgraduate courses, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.
Minister of State for Health Faggan Singh Kulaste said during Question Hour that the government proposes to bring the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill to ensure that 50 per cent of the seats in postgraduate courses in government colleges are reserved by states for medical officers in government services who have served “at least three years in remote and difficult areas.”
The Bill proposes that after completing the PG course, the medical officers could once again be asked to serve another three-year term in a difficult area.
The previous UPA government had also tried to make one year of rural posting mandatory for admission in PG courses. However, the move was met with severe opposition from resident doctors and MBBS students, prompting then health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to put the notification on hold.
The present government is now trying to incentivise doctors to serve in the rural areas and remote villages. It is also planning to involve AYUSH practitioners to make primary health services available in such areas.
At present, there is just one doctor for around 1,700 people in India, whereas the WHO stipulates a minimum ratio of 1:1,000.
The Minister said the WHO country office has clarified that there was no report in the recent past that stated that 70 per cent of the rural population in the country has minimal access to healthcare.
