I recently had the fortunate opportunity to meet former president Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. I asked him if he had a solution to the problem. Amused by the question, he replied, “Should I give you a beautiful answer, a difficult answer or a suitable answer?” When I told him to choose the answer that would best suit the country, he said, “In India, we have 700 million people living in six lakh villages — and our primary health centres are not properly manned. I have therefore suggested to the government that it includes PURA, or Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas, in its 11th Five Year Plan. “Once the connectivity and the involvement of various sectors in rural areas are achieved, doctors won’t have a problem serving in these areas.” The former president went on to ask why there were no compulsory rural postings for students graduating from IITs and IIMs.

Dr Kalam really touched upon the nub of the problem: the major social change taking place among graduating professionals. There is, today, a clear disparity between medical graduates and management/engineering graduates. Fresh graduates from engineering streams get placements and handsome pay packages almost immediately after passing out. Medical graduates, in contrast, have to work towards acquiring a specialisation and then a super-speciality, before they can even contemplate a handsome remuneration. Considering the high expenses in acquiring a medical education today, this is a source of great frustration.

There are many who wonder why medical students are so opposed to “serving the people” in rural India. They need to look at the big picture.

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