2 days ago
No longer a must: Over 6,000 medicos in Karnataka exempted from rural duty
Bengaluru: For the first time after the rural service law was amended, over 6,063 out of 7,835 eligible students have been exempted from the one-year compulsory stint.
According to the list released Monday, 1,772 have been allotted various postings.
As per the notification issued by the department of health and family welfare, a merit list of students who studied in the govt quota of govt and private colleges and completed their internship in 2024 and 2025 was drawn up. The students were allowed to exercise their choice, which included exemption. An allotment list was released in which 7,574 students were allocated as per their preferences, and 261 students were allotted through computerised random allotment.
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"The govt had only around 1,772 posts available for recruitment. So, as per the amendment in the Act, we have prepared the merit list and given the students their choices," a commissionerate official said.
The students will get a stipend based on the department where they are allotted. While in the medical education department, the stipend is Rs 50,000 per month, it is Rs 62,666 in the health and welfare department and Rs 75,000 in the National Health Mission.
The Karnataka Compulsory Service by Candidates Completed Medical Courses (Counselling, Allotment and Certification) (Amendment) Rules-2024 stated that candidates have the option to either choose a preferred location for one-year compulsory service or exemption based on merit in the online counselling. The online counselling system shall allocate the chosen place of service or exemption in accordance with the candidate's merit and choice indicated.
The state govt introduced this amendment after it realised that there are not as many posts as the number of graduates nor enough money to pay these graduates for their service.
The Karnataka Compulsory Service Training By Candidates Completed Medical Courses Act-2012, introduced in 2015, was an ambitious law to get all medical graduates — MBBS holders, PG degree and diploma holders, and super specialists — including from private and deemed universities, to render compulsory services.
However, the law faced a legal challenge and the Karnataka high court in 2020 upheld an amended version of the Act after the word "training" was removed.
The govt's problems, however, had only began. The Act ran into multiple issues, including a lack of posts and money and more legal challenges, prompting the govt to amend the law twice again. Realising that it neither had the posts nor the money to accommodate and pay all the medical graduates, the govt amended the Act.
Ten years after it was enacted, the law has come full circle.
The first amendment in 2024 saw the govt specifying that the compulsory posting is restricted to available vacancies. Merit-based exemption was provided. Exemption was also extended to graduates joining state and central govt services. The 2024 amendment also reduced the stipend to be paid as envisaged by the original Act and left it to the discretion of the govt.
The second amendment, enacted by way of an ordinance in May this year, made it clear that govt seat candidates will be posted first, and private seat candidates may be posted later.
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