This should not have happened. Along with thousands of others, our son’s career is in jeopardy despite having invested so much hard work and money,” says Rekha Singh. His son Aman is among the students who have been evacuated from Ukraine. He is a third-year MBBS student of Bukovinian State Medical University.
Aman had taken admission there after being unable to secure a seat in a government college in India through the NEET UG exam. His score was 280 out of 500. In the general category, 180 is the pass mark. “Despite scoring well, he could not make it and we do not have the capability to afford a private college, which costs around Rs 1-5 crores,” says Aman’s mother.
While the family is happy that Aman has returned safely, they add that since he was in a hurry, he left behind his school certificates at the university. There is a gloomy vibe around the house, considering the uncertainty over Aman’s future. “I don’t know if and when I will be able to go back. During admission, my Class 12th and 10th certificates were taken by the university authorities. Now that there is war, who knows what might happen,” said Aman. “The university has closed for two weeks and I don’t know where my future is.”
His father Rakesh is a property dealer by profession. He says that he has invested all his savings in Aman’s studies and also taken loans from individuals. He is still repaying those loans. “I have been unable to sleep. What if all our investments go for a toss and our son’s dream of becoming a doctor gets ruined? We do not have a government servant or doctor in our family. So we were looking forward to Aman making his dream come true.”
Rakesh adds that Russia should not have attacked a small nation and put so many people in danger. “Russia considers India as an ally, so why didn’t it inform the Indian government of its plans? Bullets which fired and bombs being shelled will not distinguish who is Indian and who is Ukrainian,” says Rakesh.
After coming back to India, Aman started looking for internship opportunities but met with an accident. He has no option but to sit at home and pray for things to get better. Asked why he didn’t opt for a medical college in India instead of going to Ukraine, Aman says that he did not want to waste years. “I was taking coaching which cost Rs 1-1.5 lakh.
And after I cleared NEET with 280 marks, I knew I would not be able to secure a seat. I didn’t want to wait and spend years appearing for the exam again. I know seniors from school who appeared in the exam for four years and invested a lot of time and money without finally being able to secure admission.” Like many, he says the reason behind this is fewer seats in government colleges due to reservations and expensive private colleges.
MBBS in India: Pros and cons
Over 15 lakh aspirants compete in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) UG for 89,395 MBBS seats recognised by the National Medical Commission (NMC) across the country every year. Then, there are 27,948 (Bachelor of Dental Surgery) seats, 52,720 AYUSH seats, 603 Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc) and Animal Husbandry (AH) seats, 1,899 at AIIMS and 249 in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Research (JIPMER).
As per the data provided by the Medical Council of India (MCI) and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), a total of 16.1 lakh candidates sat for the MBBS entrance exams in 2021. Currently, there are a total of 562 medical colleges offering MBBS in India, out of which 286 are government and 276 are private institutes. In 2021, MBBS seats available in government medical colleges were divided in two parts — All India Quota (AIQ) and state quota.
In every government MBBS college, 15% of seats are reserved for AIQ seats, the counselling for which was conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC). The remaining 85% state quota seats were allotted to domicile candidates of the particular state subject to fulfilling the eligibility criteria. Only medical aspirants securing the NEET cutoff percentile for 2021 were considered for the seat allotment process.
Since NEET 2021, the reservation criteria has been updated, with 27% OBC reservation and 10% for EWS categories. The Supreme Court has also introduced NEET reservations to 15% seats for SC and 7.5% seats for ST categories. The 27% OBC reservation for NEET admissions was implemented in Central universities only. However, this has not extended to AIQ seats of state MBBS and BDS colleges.
Private colleges charge a bomb
In private colleges, fees for pursuing MBBS can range between Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore for a five-year course. That’s something most students can’t afford and therefore, look for colleges abroad which are much cheaper. This, along with factors like a limited number of seats and reservation, make it a tedious task for a student to become a doctor.
Many parents also say that there is no transparency when it comes to admission in private colleges in India, there are back door entries, management quotas and seats are often sold to the candidate offering more money. May not be by design, but it has become a game where the rick have a distinct advantage. The salaried class has to look for options in smaller countries like Ukraine.
Ratan Singh is based in Gurugram. His son Shivam Chaudhary is a second-year MBBS student at Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine. Ratan says Shivam did not score well enough in NEET, but he wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor. “There are only limited seats in government colleges. I have been here for 25 years, but there’s only one government hospital in the area. No new medical college has come up.
The government wants to spend on building things that work politically, be it a temple or a highway. Gurugram has expensive schools where only the rich can send their children. I don’t by any means have Rs 1.5 -Rs 2 crore to give to a private medical college. Hence, Ukraine was the only option, not just for my son, but for lakhs of students who have been aspiring to become doctors,” he says.
What Ukraine has to offer
They are cheaper. This is why medical courses in countries like Ukraine, China and Russia help Indian students. “You can complete an MBBS course in an Ukrainian college for Rs 30-60 lakh,” says Rajiv Verma, a student contractor, who coordinates with colleges in Ukraine for admissions.
Rajiv’s two sons, Manas and Hemang, are also pursuing MBBS in Ukraine and are in the fifth and fourth year, respectively. “Every year, I arrange admissions for around 50-70 students in Ukrainian colleges. I have clients who are doctors in government hospitals including Safdarjung but their children did not make it to government colleges in India. Also, they do not have that kind of money. So they opted for Ukraine,” says Rajiv.
According to the Ministry of Education and Science in Ukraine, there are more than 20,000 students from India over there pursuing MBBS. The country has a number of government medical universities, which are approved by WHO, MCI and UNESCO. These universities offer MD, MS, MBBS and other degrees in medicine to the local students as well as international students at affordable prices.
Following the Ukraine-Russia war, a large number of students from India have got stuck, especially in the eastern part of the country in cities like Kharkiv and Kyiv, which are under attack. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, on the sidelines of an event, said many Indian students have been pursuing medical studies in smaller countries and that the state government should devise plans to offer these opportunities in the country itself.
While the Prime Minister asked the students to go to Indian colleges, these students have also been attacked on social media, for not being able to afford a ticket to come back home and waiting for the Indian government to evacuate them. “We are not children of rich parents who can afford a ticket worth Rs 75,000,” says Ahmed Javed, a fourth-year MBBS student at Odessa National Medical University.
He adds that because of limited opportunities in India, he decided to go to Ukraine. “My father earns Rs 50,000 per month and my mom Rs 40,000. On that salary, I have come here. My parents made this sacrifice so that after six years I can repay the loans they have taken. How long would I have to wait to get a government college seat, I have no idea,” he adds, speaking from Odessa.
Disha Sharma, a first-year student, who came back to her home in Greater Noida in one of the first flights before the war when the Ukrainian airspace was still open, is hoping that the war gets over soon so that she can return to college at least after the July-August summer break.
Her father Dimpal Kumar, 42, said she had attempted NEET and was a few marks short. She was getting BDS, but she wanted to pursue MBBS. “She didn’t want to waste a year. The fees for reputed private colleges here run in crores, which the service class can’t even imagine paying. The. What’s the choice left?” says Kumar.
Colleges in Ukraine and their fees
Rs 20, 94,607 Uzhhorod National Medical University (in $27,900)
Rs 23, 42,356 Ternopil State Medical University (in $31,200)
Rs 22, 74,788 Summy State Medical University (in $30,300)
Rs 20, 27,039 Bukovinian State Medical University (in $27,000)
Rs 24, 77,492 OO Bogomolets National Medical University (in $33,000)
Rs 25, 67,582 Lviv National Medical University (in $34,200)
Rs 22, 52,265 Zaporozhye State Medical University (in $30,000)
Rs 20, 27,039 Ivano-Frankovisk National Medical University (in $27,000)
Rs 24, 77,492 V.N Kazarin Kharkiv National Medical University (in $33,000)
Rs 22, 52,265 Poltava State Medical University (in $30,000)