Why should doctors go to rural areas?

I often read that doctors are not ready to go to rural areas, and many patients die because the medical officer is not available. Laws are being made to compel doctors to work in rural areas.

Since I became a doctor in 1975, there has been no change in the scenario of primary heath centres, which are fast deteriorating into post offices where cases are registered and transferred to higher centres. No emergency medicine and facilities are available. The medical officers who do stay are busy with their private practices. Committed doctors become frustrated with the government’s priorities. I worked as a medical officer for 14 years. At the primary health centre in Birwadi, then in Kolaba district, I studied the scorpion sting in detail and reported my findings. I would spend 50% of my salary on phone calls to Mumbai and Pune for expert advice on people admitted to hospital for scorpion stings. The director of health services forced me to work on the target for family planning cases. Ultimately I got a transfer to Pune where I registered for MD. After completing my MD, in 1982, I got myself transferred to a primary health centre at Poladpur in Raigad. I was warned to leave government service as the majority of officers were corrupt and nobody would protect me for honest service.

Since 1983 I have suffered various ailments for which I have no choice but to go to Mumbai or Pune for treatment. My physician classmate who also worked in a rural posting had an acute myocardial infarction. As the lone physician in the area, he read his own ECG, advised his staff to give him streptokinase and died of reperfusion arrhythmias.

My children do not get a good education in rural areas. What facilities does the government give doctors who do stay in rural areas and do life-saving work? This question remains unanswered