Students passing out of government medical colleges in Haryana will now be required to do a fixed period of service in government hospitals of the state, state Health Minister Anil Vij said on Friday.

Vij has directed officers to formulate a policy to ensure that medical students doing MBBS or MD degrees from the state government's medical colleges would have to serve in government hospitals.Presiding over a review meeting of Medical Education and Research Department here, he said: "The formulation of this policy would end the shortage of doctors and provide new doctors with employment in the state." Vij said that a similar policy was already operational in Gujarat, Andaman and Nicobar, Assam, Goa, Rajasthan, Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka and some other states.