Final year MBBS and nursing students may be asked to join Covid duty

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held a virtual meeting with experts to review oxygen and medicine availability

With a shortage of healthcare personnel amid the latest surge in coronavirus cases across India, the government could ask final-year students of medical and nursing courses to to join the Covid force and incentivise those joining in future recruitments, sources said on Monday. The decision is said to have been taken at a virtual meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with experts to review oxygen and medicine availability. The human resource situation in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, and ways to augment it, were discussed during the meeting.

The decisions taken at the meeting might also include delaying the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) examination and incentivising MBBS pass-outs studying for it to join Covid duty. It might also include utilising services of final year MBBS and nursing students in Covid Duty.

Medical personnel doing Covid duty might be given preference in government recruitment as well as a financial incentive, sources said.