Doctor scarcity in Bengal due to all-India selection: Mamata

Proposing an increase in the number of seats in medical colleges of West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday put the blame of shortage of doctors in the state on the present all-India MBBS selection procedure.

Responding to a question in the Assembly, Banerjee who also holds the health portfolio, said her government is finding it difficult to send medical students to rural areas as many of them are moving out of the state after getting trained here.

"We want to recruit more doctors but they are not available. Earlier, under the state quota, we used to get a decent number of doctors. But due to the all-India MBBS selection examination, aspirant doctors are leaving West Bengal after receiving education and serving a bond of three years," she said adding that this system has led to the scarcity of doctors in the state.

Banerjee had earlier stated that medical students from outside the state often leave after graduating and the state government is ...