'Ukraine Returnee Students Will Hamper Standards Of Indian Colleges', Says Union Govt

In response to a batch of petitions filed at the Supreme Court, the Union government said that the medical students who returned from war-torn Ukraine would not be accommodated within Indian medical Universities as no existing provision permits such a transfer.

Quoting the enlisted provisions under the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act, 2019, the government added that enrolling the Ukraine returnees would hamper with the standards of the college. In the statement presented, they mention that students went abroad to study as they could not make the cut with their NEET scores, and admitting them to the premier colleges in the country could result in litigation from other qualified candidates.

Many Deemed Ineligible By NEET, Reasons Union Government

Several Indian students who were evacuated from Ukraine had filed a batch of petitions seeking permission to complete their medical education in India. One among the petitions noted the mental hardships of over 14,000 students whose medical education was brought to a sudden halt due to the war raging in Ukraine. The case was presented to the Supreme Court with a request to accommodate the students within the country's institutions.

Responding to these petitions on September 15, the Union Government said that any such relaxation given to the Ukraine returnees would seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country. Citing that such a transfer lies outside the scope of provisions under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the govt stated that it would not be permissible to admit foreign return students.

Adding to this, they said that no such permission to trade or accommodate foreign medical students has ever been given to any Indian medical institute/university. Further, bringing in an exception for the Ukraine medical students could raise litigation from other students in the country who would have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges or would have been admitted to the lesser-known colleges due to the limited seats.

In the affidavit that was submitted, they reasoned that the petitioners had gone to foreign countries for either of the two reasons - due to poor merit in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) or due to the affordability of medical education in foreign countries. As per a report by The News Minute, the government said that permitting students with poor merit was seen as a conduct that would hamper the standards set by the premier medical colleges in India.

Permitted To Study Abroad But Not Within Home Country

The Union government, in consultation with the NMC, has been looking into measures to assist medical students while maintaining the requisite standard of medical education in the country. As a part of the same, they released a public notice on September 6, which allowed the students to relocate to educational institutions in other countries to complete their education.

Under the special circumstances, the NMC agreed with Ukraine's academic mobility programme, which would allow the students to finish their education abroad and receive a degree from the parent Ukrainian university itself. Earlier, such provisions were not entertained within the NMC Act, and it was mandated for students enrolled in foreign medical colleges to complete their education and acquire a degree from a single university only.

Prior to this agreement with Ukrainian Universities, the central government had informed the Supreme Court in March that they were considering requests of students from Ukraine to grant permission to continue their education in the country itself.

As not much ensued after the statement, many MBBS students and their parents began staging protests and issuing waivers. Urging the Centre to take necessary action to assist the students, there were protests at New Delhi's Jantar Mantar in the month of April. These protests as well saw the students bringing up requests for arrangements to be made to help them complete their studies within the state universities.

This was followed up by Union Minister for State (MoS) for Health and Family Welfare, Bharti Pawar's response at the Rajya Sabha stating that there are no provisions to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to Indian medical colleges.

It was after this, that the NMC conveyed their no-objection for academic mobility programme provided that other criteria of Screening Test Regulations 2002 are fulfilled.

This announcement permitting academic mobility came across as a relief to many who were concerned about their academic future. However, it continues to pose a problem for many others who may face financial and other restraints to travel abroad to complete their course.

Also Read: National Medical Commission Allows Ukraine Returnees To Study In Foreign Universities