One-year rural stint or Rs 30 lakh penalty for junior doctors

 BENGALURU: Students from state-run medical colleges may have to cough up a fine of Rs 30 lakh if they don't serve in rural areas from next year. Government-quota students in private medical colleges too come under the new measure.

"We've made one-year rural service compulsory through legislation. Students who fail to complete the service will not be given the completion (degree) certificate. Besides, they will have to pay a fine of Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh," medical education minister Sharanaprakash R Patil said. MBBS will now become a six-and-a-half-year course, accounting for the one-year rural stint. The duration of PG programmes will similarly go up by a year. The rural stint carries a monthly stipend. Every year, nearly 5,000 students complete graduate and postgraduate courses in Karnataka.