Ringing alarm bells in Uttar Pradesh, the state is being weighed down by the influx of foreign ‘groomed’ doctors into the health sector as physicians, close to 30 per cent, in government-run medical services are holding degrees from China, Nepal and Russia.
With the expertise of such doctors under doubt, the lives of hundreds of patients are in danger.
In a shocking revelation, an office-bearer of the Primary Medical Services (PMS) Association told Express, it is known that about 3,000 ‘Chinese’ doctors practise in the PMS. “Nearly 30 per cent of the doctors in the government-run medical services are from China, Nepal and Russia. As Indian doctors and specialists are not taking up government jobs, nearly 4,000 out of the total 11,000 posts are lying vacant. The government has no choice, but to accept these Chinese doctors.”
There is a question mark on the quality of medical degrees from China. Unlike in India, one does not have to sit for an entrance test and the degree comes at cheaper rates. The medical education can be completed at a cost of `8 lakh to `9 lakh and the ‘graduates’ are warmly welcomed by the government, putting at risk the lives of hundreds of people.
Many educational counsellors in Lucknow and Delhi play the role of middlemen for medical education in China, Nepal and many smaller nations formed after the disintegration of USSR.
“On an average, 1,200 students from Uttar Pradesh are migrating to China, Nepal and Russia to obtain MBBS degrees,” said an education counsellor, who is getting a good number of students every season.
In order to make the students at home, Chinese and Russian medical colleges offer Indian meals to students and include Indian teachers in their faculty.
Speaking on the issue, a Special Secretary in the Medical and Health Department agrees that Chinese doctors are not as good as the domestic ones but the government was unable to refuse them as the result would be total chaos in hospitals.
According to him, the Medical Council of India (MCI) should also be blamed for the precarious situation.
“The MCI, which itself had been a highly defamed and corrupt body till recent past, issues certificates to ‘China-return doctors’ after a low-grade test,” he said.