Indian students from Ukraine file PIL to resume studies in India

New Delhi: The Russian invasion of Ukraine’s soil compelled thousands of Indian students to flee the country and leave their education behind. Now, a PIL has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Centre and National Medical Commission to take measures to enable Ukraine-returned Medical students to resume their education in India.

As per the petitioner Pravasi Legal Cell, they have filed the PIL on behalf of 20,000 Ukraine returnee Indian students for allowing them to join medical colleges in the country. The High Court agreed to hear the plea on March 21, the petitioner said.

The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighted the plight of the Indian medical students rescued from war-hit Ukraine that has the potential of disrupting the careers of several thousand young men and women who have already gone through the trauma of being in the war zone.

A medical degree earned from Ukraine is accepted by National Medical Commission on passing their Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) exam.

According to the new rules of the FMGE, an MBBS aspirant can take up to 10 years to complete the programme apart from the minimum course work tenure of 4.5 years, candidates need to intern for two years -- 12 months in the foreign medical institute where they are studying and another year of supervised internship in India, it stated.

As per the provisions of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021 the entire course, training, and internship or clerkship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study.

The provisions also state that no part of medical training and internship shall be done in India or in any country other than the one from where the primary medical qualification is obtained.

Further, it was submitted that at present there are no norms or regulations in India to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session.

Pointing out to a circular dated March 4, allowing payment of stipend to those who qualify for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam in India, the PIL said, however, the above circular is not of much use to students who have been rescued from Ukraine as many of them are in the second, third or fourth year of studies and have not completed their degree yet. To qualify for the stipend, one has to complete the degree, appear for the exam, qualify and then get the internship.