When Ritu*, a nursing graduate from Kerala, wanted to return home to care for her parents, she believed her degree would help her secure a government job nearby. Instead, she found herself trapped. Her college in Andhra Pradesh withheld her original certificates, insisting she complete a so-called “service period” of one year at its affiliated hospital before they would be released.
“I wanted to go back to Kerala and work because of family issues, but my college kept all my original certificates. They don’t call it a ‘bond service,’ yet that’s exactly what it is. Even if I took five days of leave, those days were simply added to extend the service period,” she recalls.
