SC asks Centre, NMC to find solutions for foreign-returned medical students
Dec 09, 2022
New Delhi [India], December 9 : The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Centre and National Medical Commission (NMC) to find a solution for those medical students who could not complete their clinical training in foreign countries like China, Ukraine etc, due to circumstances arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic.
A bench of justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath expressed sympathy with the students
who could not complete their clinical training in foreign countries such as China and Ukraine due to Covid and other unforeseen events and asked the government to address their grievances.
The court was considering a batch of petitions filed by the students, who completed the courses online and secured completion certificates from foreign universities but could not complete clinical training.
The court observed that these students could not undergo their clinical training in their foreign universities due to unforeseen events and cannot go back to their universities because they have subsequently completed their courses.
The court asked the Union government to constitute a committee of experts to find out solutions for the students' situations. The court remarked that these students can be national assets when the country is facing a dearth of doctors.
The court noted that the students must have spent huge amounts and if the problem remains undressed, their entire career could be left in the lurch and their families will also suffer.
The court listed the matter for further hearing in January 2023.
Earlier the top court had suggested that the Centre introduce a transparent system and a portal to address the grievances of the evacuated medical students from Ukraine and seek necessary permission to let them continue their medical studies in India.
The court had asked the government to share on the portal, information related to fees of medical colleges that the government is proposing to enable students, who are in their second and third years, to complete their studies.
The Centre had submitted before the Supreme Court that in consultation with the National Medical Commission (NMC) it has taken proactive measures to assist returnee students from Ukraine, adding that transferring these students to colleges in India would seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country.
The Centre had apprised the SC that any further relaxation, including the prayer-seeking transfer of these returnee students to medical colleges in India, would hamper the standards of medical education.
In the affidavit, the Centre had said the Government of India, in consultation with the NMC, the apex medical education regulatory body in the country, has taken proactive measures to assist the returnee students from Ukraine while balancing the need to maintain the requisite standard of medical education in the country.
The affidavit was filed by the Centre on a batch of pleas filed by Indian students, who have been evacuated from Ukraine and are seeking permission to continue medical studies in India.
