Ramadoss Vs Medicos. The Battle goes on!!
2007
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Rishabh Srivastava - Profile
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Education, Healthcare, Politics
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Education, Healthcare, Politics
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FEW MONTHS back the Medical Council of India (MCI) had forwarded a proposal of six-months extension in the medical curriculum but the government came with a one-year plan. This entire one-year will be dedicated to rural service and students need to spend at least six months in any rural areas at their final segment of study. As per the new curriculum, a student has to spend almost seven years for a MBBS degree compared to the five and half year at present.
Being an engineering student, this topic is of no concern to me but I support these students who are being victimised by this unjustified move of the health minister. The students, doctors and many others have spoken against the move and as a result the protests and strikes are going on in many colleges across the country, which are hampering the health services. I am not a supporter of strikes as a doctor has a huge social responsibility on her/his but sometime you just don’t find any other way to be heard.
I feel that the one-year internship in rural area should be included in existing tenure only. If the medical course is extended, the students will be 32 to 33 years old by the time they finish their course. On the other hand, the other graduates such as engineers would be earning in lakhs per year by that age. I met few of resident doctors here in Mumbai.
“First, I want to clarify that we are not against rural service. It would be our pleasure to do rural service but our period of study should not be extended. It should be within five and a half years and if you want to extend that study give us permanent jobs with permanent salaries,” said Dr Ravikant Singh of KEM (King Edward Memorial) hospital.
This rule of rural service does not apply for private colleges. Why? Isn’t the rule applicable for all? Why only government medical students should suffer? Private college students would finish their course well before a government medical student. Isn’t this discrimination?
This scheme will increase the duration of the MBBS course from five and a half years to six and a half years. This will place a huge financial burden on students hailing from lower middle class backgrounds. Most of them avail loans and scholarships for their education. This can wreak havoc in their plans of repaying their loans. Many fear that MBBS will not be a favoured course for women in the future if things go the way the minister wants them to.
If this Bill is passed then most of the students will surely hesitate before joining the course, because in the year 2007 around 150 odd students switched to engineering after getting medicine in Tamil Nadu. Many other private and government medical colleges from Karnataka and other colleges from Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala have started their protests from the 27th of this month, many of which are indefinite strikes.
The health minister of this UPA government has done everything wrong as far as medicos are concerned. There was quota agitation last year, which was initiated in AIIMS and spread like wildfire across the country. The students from other fraternities also joined the cause and it became a bane for government after Supreme Court put the stay on the controversial bill. Ever since Dr Venugopal, director of AIIMS has been at loggerheads with the health minister.
The health minister tabled another Bill in Parliament, which forces any person, who is holding the post of AIIMS chairman to retire when he reaches the age of 65. This is a deliberate attempt to show Dr Venugopal the door and health minister has achieved the objective. The public tug-off-war between Ramadoss and Dr Venugopal saw several rounds of litigation in Delhi High Court. However, the move to sack Dr Venugopal is not the only black mark against the young Tamil Nadu minister, son of PMK (Pattali Makkal Katchi) chief Dr S Ramadoss. Dr Ramadoss junior has been in the eye of a storm for urging film and sports stars to not endorse soft drinks; for stuffing AIIMS with his cronies; for publicly contesting United Nations figures on AIDS in India; Dr Ramadoss had no time to sign degrees and hence student’s got their certificates of merit late and that too after intervention of court; and for advocating statutory warnings for smoking on screen.
In spite of being the first medical doctor to head the health ministry, has Dr Anbumani Ramadoss become an embarrassment to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh? Should he go? The move of removal of Dr Venugopal, one of the best doctors in the country is an autocratic decision taken by a democratic government. The health minister has made AIIMS a playground to play the dirtiest of politics.
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I would agree with your views. Its a pity that the premier medical institute of the country is being subjected to such politics.
Live by the sword, die by it too.
Venugopal is a dirty man who used party, caste and politics for his own benefits.His stint in AIIMS have made it known for all the wrong reasons only.
He deserves the sacking, whatever the motive behind it.
Hey, Dont use that offensive language for Dr Venugopal. He is one of the best doctor in India. U can criticize him as director if you want but not as a doctor. How can you blame only Venugopal for politics in AIIMS? What will you say about our honourable health minister…….
Justifying Centre’s move on rural postings, the minister pointed out that medical education in India is highly subsidized at the cost of tax payers money. “The MBBS fee in a government college in Tamil Nadu is Rs 4000 per year while the same in a private college amounts to Rs four lakhs. The tuition fee in AIIMS is Rs 210 per year, while it is Rs 125 in JIPMER.”
“If I ask students to do public service for one year, am I wrong?, he asked.
He also made it clear that the doctors will be paid Rs 8,000 as stipends per month during their postings in rural areas and will be lodged in district hospitals. They will be provided transport and will be placed under district medical officer.
On the marriage offers from young medicos, Dr Ramadoss said in lighter vein, “I will consider their proposals if they serve in rural areas.”
Read this article + all comments written you will get the other side of coin why the govt wants only govt students MBBS to be extended
http://www.merinews.com/catFull.jsp?articleID=128310
First of all, the talk about discrimination between private colleges and government run medical colleges is not justified at all. private colleges charge on an average 4-5 lakh rupees per year, easily covering all the expenses made on a medical student, whereas a government colleges charges on an average 40-50K rupees. Now just imagine that the government is paying this huge deficit per student from its own coffers, then naturally they would demand something from the student studying in their colleges. If any one doesn’t want the compulsory rural service, then they are free to opt for a private medical college and pay the exorbitant fees they charge.
By emphasizing on this, I m not supporting the extension of the MBBS course. I do support that the rural stint should be included within the current tenure itself. Also, the reason why government is doing this is that the world bank has pledged 12000 crore to the government if it improves the doctor to people ration in rural areas. And by introducing such a draconian clause in the MBBS course, the government is not trying to improve the rural health scenario, it only wants to cash in on this pledge and further fuel more corruption.
hello friends,
it is a great myth that govt is giving huge subsidies for medical education.
only 2 deptt, anatomy and pharmacology r d ones which r needed extra for a medical college, rest all deptt which r needed, r also needed for d govt hospitals, and d hospitals govt will hv to build anyway, so d claim is entirely false, (govt is paying for only 2 deptt as far as that concerns medical students, for which it is charging money to us.)so plz dont say that govt is doing any sort of charity to us medicos.
medicos are subject to harrassment from time to time from govt, specially from general category.
sometimes i think that it has become a crime to be a doctor in this country.