Medical students, who had to leave their studies midway and returned to India from Ukraine due to the ongoing war with Russia, will not get admission to medical colleges in India.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has told the court in a written submission that the present law in India doesn’t allow colleges to give admission to these students.
“…there are no such provisions either under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 or the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the regulation to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes/colleges to Indian medical colleges,” The Ministry said in its reply.
It added, “Till now, no permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute/university.
The Ministry’s reply came in response to a notice issued by the Supreme Court on August 26, 2022 in which the apex court asked the government its stand on more than 24,000 medical students returned from Ukraine.
Some of these students filed multiple petitions in the SC and demanded that the Indian government should come out with a one-time measure to accommodate them into medical colleges in India.
These students referred to the report of the Committee of the Ministry of External Affairs submitted in the Lok Sabha on 3rd August 2022, in which it said, “The Committee has been informed that MEA had recommended to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to consider allowing Indian private medical institutions to enroll returnee students from Ukraine in their institutions on a one-time exemption basis.”
“The Committee urges the Ministry to pursue the matter with the MoHFW vigorously as this step alone may solve the current crisis being faced by the students enrolled in Ukraine universities and enable them to complete their courses,” the report said further.
The Health Ministry in its affidavit has said that those students who go abroad have either poor merit or affordability issues.
According to the ministry in case these students with poor merit are allowed admission in premier medical colleges in India by default there may be several litigations from those desirous candidates who could not get seats in these colleges and have taken admissions in either lesser known colleges or have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges.
“Further in case of affordability, if these candidates are allowed Private Medical Colleges in India, they once again may not be able to afford the fees structure of the concerned institution,” it added.
However, talking about the relief granted to those students who couldn’t complete their internship, the Ministry said that they can do it in India. Also, those students who are in their final year of studies and have been granted a certificate of completion of the course on or before June 30, 2022, can appear in the screening test in India.
The Ministry also said that the students who are in their 1st to 4th year can complete their remaining courses in other foreign countries with the approval of the parent university of Ukraine
