Punjab Doctors to Boycott OPD Services on Monday Over ₹20-Lakh Bond, Fee Hike Protest

Punjab Doctors to Boycott OPD Services on Monday: Punjab government has made medical education unaffordable, say resident doctors and MBBS interns, to shut down OPD services from Monday. Medical services in all three tertiary care hospitals of the state will be affected, but emergency services will remain functional, they said.

It’s the Punjab government’s recent move to impose a ₹20 lakh bond on MBBS students and a hefty hike in tuition fees that has prompted the doctors to go on strike. We had reported on June 19 about the state government’s bond policy for students seeking admission to MBBS and BDS courses in government medical and dental colleges to address the acute shortage of doctors in the state.

As per the new policy, MBBS students admitted from academic session 2025-26 onwards will have to either serve in government health institutions for two years after completing their course or pay a bond amount of ₹20 lakh. For students taking admission under the all-India quota, the period is reduced to one year of government service.

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The state medical education department has increased the tuition fees by 5% for the upcoming session. The Punjab government claims it’s a regular exercise as per the 2020 notification issued by the medical education department.

In all, if hostel and mess fees are included, a student needs at least ₹13-14 lakh to don the white coat. Before the decision to go on protest, a delegation of resident doctors representing Government Medical Colleges in Patiala and Amritsar, besides Guru Gobind Singh Medical College & Hospital in Faridkot, under the Forum of Resident Doctors, Punjab, met the principal secretary of medical education & research on Sunday. In the meeting, the delegation conveyed the “unjust” burden of the “unconstitutional” bond policy and the “exorbitant fee hike” and demanded immediate rollback of these orders.

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The doctors also demanded a hike in stipends for resident doctors and interns, linking stipend structure with current dearness allowance (DA) index, reinstatement of non-practicing allowance (NPA) for PCMS doctors, and non-compliance of government hospitals’ administration with National Medical Council’s SOPs.

Dr Milanpreet, member, RDA Patiala, said, “The fee hike and introduction of bond policy for MBBS interns should immediately be rolled back by the government. Instead of hiking stipend of MBBS interns and resident doctors, which is the lowest among the neighbouring states, the government is hiking fees, making it impossible for the students from humble backgrounds to fulfil their dreams to don the white coat.”

The government has given two weeks ' time to address the issues, said the Forum of Resident Doctors. He said AAP government had promised to open 16 government medical colleges in 5 years, but none have been opened so far.

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