The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed disapproval of the policies enforced by several states that require MBBS students admitted through the All India Quota to serve in remote areas post-graduation. The bench, consisting of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh, likened these mandatory service bonds to “bonded labour.”
This critical stance came during a hearing concerning an appeal against a Uttarakhand High Court decision that upheld a 2009 state policy. This policy mandates that All India Quota medical students in Uttarakhand sign a bond committing them to serve in “inaccessible” and “extremely inaccessible” regions for five years as a condition for paying subsidized tuition fees.
Justice Surya Kant questioned the fairness of imposing such restrictions on top-tier students, saying, “The students who have qualified in the All India Quota are more meritorious than those admitted under the state quota. How can these talented and meritorious people be treated like bonded labourers?”
The Uttarakhand government defended the bond as voluntary, explaining that students who sign the bond benefit from reduced course fees, while those who opt out are required to pay higher fees. Additionally, the state’s counsel pointed out that students can avoid the service requirement by paying a penalty of Rs 30 lakh.
Despite acknowledging the bond’s intent to ensure the availability of medical practitioners in underserved areas, the Supreme Court criticized the imposition of such heavy penalties and service obligations on students. Justice Surya Kant highlighted practical concerns, such as the challenges faced by a student from Tamil Nadu serving in Uttarakhand, pointing out potential language barriers and cultural mismatches which could affect the quality of healthcare.
The discussion also covered the plight of 2011 batch students from a medical college in Garhwal, who are contesting the high court’s order to pay higher tuition fees with 18% interest for not fulfilling the bond. The Supreme Court responded by reducing the interest rate to 9% and extended the payment deadline by four weeks.
The bench remarked on the students’ situation, stating, “The appellant students are meritorious candidates who competed in an All India Examination and secured their admission on merit … Even if they committed a mistake in executing a bond and paying Rs 15 thousand per year, the bond itself gave an exit door to them to wriggle out of its consequences by paying the annual fee of Rs 2.20 lakh as directed by the high court.”
