Vijayawada: Students availing of MBBS seats under the 15 per cent All India Quota (AIQ) have been asked to sign ‘bond status’ guidelines by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) which carries, among other things, a requirement that they be available for five years of rural service.
The bond states that the candidate shall, on demand made by the government within two years from the date of registering as a medical practitioner, serve for a period of not less than five years in rural areas as specified. Each state has formulated its own guidelines and submitted to MCC. Now, MCC is adjudicating all the bond status proformas submitted by the medical colleges of all the states.
Candidates who fail to comply shall have to pay a sum of Rs 5 lakh, or as the government may direct, as penalty for breach of contract. The clause came to light following the display of the “non-availability” of bond status in the ‘institution information’ section of the MCC website. The institution information pertains to all government medical colleges, across the country.
Despite the announcement of tentative schedule for second round online counselling, for the 15 per cent AIQ in deemed and Central universities and Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) colleges, the MCC hasn’t updated the ‘bond status’ of the government medical colleges.
The silence of the 10 government medical colleges from Andhra Pradesh and four in Telangana state over the five-year rural service requirement has come as a surprise for parents and students.
When contacted, DNE-AP Dr.N. Subba Rao and Dr NTR University of Health Sciences Registrar Dr. S. Appalanaidu said they were not aware of any such bond status till now. Dr Subba Rao said that they didn’t have any agreement or bond with any of the candidates qualified for UG-NEET under AIQ.
