MBBS Bond Policy: Is Haryana Government Promoting Bonded Labour?

The Probe’s Pavitra Utgikar, in conversation with Jagan Nath Bhandari, the counsel of petitioner Ananya Agarwal who moved a PIL before the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the Haryana government’s MBBS bond policy

MBBS bond policy

Ananya Agarwal, a first-year medical student in Rohtak, Haryana, has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court with a Public Interest Litigation against the Haryana government’s bond policy. After giving her NEET UG exam with more than 18 lakh students, Ananya secured a 7601 rank. She was offered admission at Post Graduate Institute in Rohtak but was soon asked to sign a bond. In her PIL, Ananya has called the Haryana government’s bond policy a promotion of bonded labour that is violative of the fundamental rights of the students.

The Probe spoke to Ananya’s counsel Jagan Nath Bhandari who said that the Haryana government was promoting bonded labour by forcing students to sign the policy. “Earlier, the fee was just around 80,000 to one lakh rupees. Now the government has made it 10 lakh rupees per annum by saying they will make the students sign a bond for 10 lakh rupees yearly. By imposing this bond policy, the government has mandated that all MBBS students must serve the state government for seven years. If they don’t serve, the students have to pay back around 40 lakhs with interest to the bank. If the student decides to work as a bonded labourer with the government, then the government will waive the EMI and the interest owed to the banks. This is nothing but a policy of bonded labour that the state government is promoting. Bonded labour was abolished many years ago. But the Haryana government is still indulging in indirect bonded labour.”

In a bid to cool tempers, the Haryana government on Wednesday announced that it would make changes to the policy and reduce the bond amount from Rs 40 lakhs to Rs 30 lakhs. The State Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also said that the government would cut down the duration of mandatory government service from seven years to five years. 

“The government’s tweaks are unacceptable. The government is compelling the students to sign this bond. This is illegal, and this is unacceptable. No state in India has introduced such a policy. The government wants to make money, and therefore they started this policy. The drawback of this policy is that the government is not even giving job security. They only say that you must work if we give you a job. They are not saying we will give you 100 per cent job placement. Why should a student sign such an illegal bond even when the government is not giving job security,” asks Bhandari.

The students have been protesting against the bond policy for nearly a month now. The student leaders have said that their agitation would continue as they are not happy with the proposed changes announced by the government. Some of the students have, in turn, asked the government to reduce the duration of compulsory government service to one year and the bond amount to be limited to 5 lakh rupees. Other student groups have asked the government to revoke the entire policy as it is violative of their fundamental rights. 

Ananya's matter is listed for hearing on December 5, wherein the petitioner has requested the court to stay the Haryana bond policy during the pendency of the case in the court.