THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The National Medical Council (NMC) has taken a stand not to let states decide on allowing the students who returned from war-torn Ukraine to continue their medical education in India.
In its reply to an RTI query by Kannur-based health activist Dr Babu K V, the regulatory body for medical education said accommodating foreign medical graduates was under NMC’s consideration and no other requests will be entertained at the moment.
It means that around 18,000 medical students who have returned from Ukraine, including nearly 3,900 from Kerala, have to wait till NMC upload the policy decision on its website.Earlier, the West Bengal government’s decision to allow medical students to attend private medical colleges in the name of “observership” had triggered a controversy.The students are looking forward to a national-level policy allowing them to continue their education in India.
While various state governments have taken an empathetic approach towards the concerns of the students and their parents, the Supreme Court had let the matter to be decided by the medical education regulator by June 29. Before the regulator arrived at a policy decision, the West Bengal government allowed 394 students to undergo “observership” in different private medical colleges in the state from June 1. The West Bengal government had appealed to the NMC to accommodate the students to ensure their continuation of education. “The observership was illegal and could set a precedent in other states. NMC is playing down the decision of West Bengal government on observership,” said Dr Babu.