AFMC docs may have to pay more to quit military

SUGGESTED CHANGES

NEWDELHI: A parliamentary panel has said that doctors who want to quit the military after being trained at the Pune-based Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) should pay an exit bond of up to ₹2 crore, officials familiar with the matter said.

This suggested move is a bid to arrest the trend of students choosing not to serve as doctors in the military after completing their education, the officials added.

At present, doctors who quit after a post-graduate course are asked to furnish ₹28 lakh and those who leave the armed forces Doctors quitting after PG course: Hike exit bond from

₹28 lakh to ₹2 crore Doctors quitting after UG course: Hike exit bond from

₹25 lakh to ₹1 crore

after an undergraduate course have to pay ₹25 lakh for their release.

The panel, which looks at the defence ministry’s functioning, has asked that the exit bond money be increased to ₹2 crore and ₹1 crore respectively.

Students trained at the prestig- ious 56-year-old institute are required to serve as military doctors for at least 14 years (shortservice commission) or at least 20 years (permanent commission) after graduating.

The type of commission they get depends on the vacancies available.

The defence ministry had told the panel that 20% of AFMC students quit every year for different reasons, one of the officials cited above said.

The college inducts 130 students every year for the MBBS course and between 80 and 100 doctors pursue various PG courses at any given time, said a senior army doctor who asked not to be named.