Centre Refuses To Enlist Ukraine-Returned Medical Students In Indian Varsities, SC To Resume Hearing Today

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will resume hearing on the medical students who returned from Ukraine and are seeking medical education in India on Friday.

The students had lashed out after the Thursday adjournment as the central government told the apex court that the Ukraine returnees cannot be accommodated in the Indian universities as National Medical Commission Act doesn’t allow it.

It further said that final year students could be accommodated if they cleared the Foreign Medical Graduate (FGM) exam, but allowing the other semester students to transfer to Indian medical institutions would not be permissible under the rules, adding that any relaxation will hamper the standards of medical education in India.

Ten petitions filed by medical students, who were forced to return from Ukraine due to the war in February- March 2022 and are waiting to continue their education, were scheduled to be heard before the Supreme Court on Thursday.

A junior lawyer appeared on behalf of the central government and sought an adjournment. The lawyer also informed the bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia that an affidavit had been filed in response to the petitions.

The affidavit filed by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) secretary said that these students opted to study in foreign countries due to two reasons – poor merit in NEET and affordability. If the government allow poor merit students in premier Indian medical colleges, it may lead to other legal actions from the candidates who could not get seats in these colleges.

“It is humbly submitted that in case these students with (a) poor merit are allowed admission in premier medical colleges in India by default, there may be several litigations from those desirous candidates who could not get seats in these colleges and have taken admission in either lesser known colleges or have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges. Further, in case of affordability, if these candidates are allocated private medical colleges in India, they once again may not be able to afford the fees structure of the concerned institution”, the affidavit stated.

The Centre further said that a public notice issued by NMC on September 6 was a no-objection for academic mobility between foreign universities for students, who could not complete studies due to the war.

Advocate Ashwarya Sinha, who represented one of the petitioners, argued that the education of about 14,000 evacuated Indian students had come to a complete halt and with their careers compromised, their fundamental rights protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India have become hollow.

Many universities in Ukraine have blocked the students’ access to their electronic journals due to non-payment of dues as a result of which they are unable to attend online classes since September 1. A majority of students from Odisha are pursuing medical education in Kharkiv while the rest were studying in Lviv and Vinnytsia.

“The universities have asked us to either provide the ‘power of attorney’ to any agent or nominee who can collect the transcripts on our behalf or we collect the transcripts ourselves from the university after clearing all the dues. Who would be willing to go back to the country under the current circumstances,” Pratik Dhal, a medical student of Kharkiv Medical University told TNIE.

Students from Odisha enrolled in Kharkiv University have been offered an academic mobility option – which refers to temporary relocation (for the period of conflict) – to universities in Georgia. The final degree, though, will be provided by the parent university. “Georgia does not have an Indian embassy. None of us will go there to study putting our lives at risk,” he added.

Notably, the Centre had earlier told Supreme Court that MEA was examining the matter of Ukraine returned medical students and might take some decisions in their favour to continue their studies in India.