AAP leader Sushil Gupta writes to PM, urges him to save future of Ukraine-returned medical students

CHANDIGARH: Aam Aadmi Party's senior leader Sushil Gupta has written to prime minister Narendra Modi urging him to save the future of medical students who returned to the country after being evacuated from war-torn Ukraine. These students are demanding admission to Indian medical colleges as a one-time measure, according to a statement issued by the Parents Association of Ukraine MBBS Students (PAUMS) recently.

"I urge you to take a generous view in this regard and to do everything possible to save the future of all those MBBS students who have returned from Ukraine. Please accord your highest priority to this issue," the Rajya Sabha MP, who is also the AAP's Haryana unit in charge, wrote in his letter on Monday. Gupta mentioned he had received a letter from PAUMS "requesting to save the future of all Ukraine-returned MBBS students". "In this connection, I would like to bring to your notice that a delegation of parents from Haryana also met me recently. They all come from middle-class families and are tensed due to the current situation in Ukraine," he wrote.

Gupta said many of the parents and students had slipped into "depression" due to their uncertain future and loss of money. As per available information, around 1,800 students from Haryana were studying in different universities of Ukraine and they returned more than four months ago, he wrote. "These students are worried and waiting for the government to take up a positive decision. "The future of these students from Haryana hangs in the balance due to the lack of decision and framework by the National Medical Commission, NMC, for their studies," Gupta said in the letter.

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He said as the government is yet to make a decision, the students are attending online classes and many of them appeared in online exams without practicals. The AAP leader said several senior students have been demanding to know the government's stand so that they could decide whether to wait or explore other avenues. "The parents have also moved to the Supreme Court for relief. The Supreme Court directed the NMC to frame guidelines for foreign medical students in India, but there are no updates regarding the same so far," he wrote.

Those from Haryana also took up the issue with the state's Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, "But nothing fruitful has happened so far," he claimed. "Due to war for more than four months in Ukraine, MBBS education has been hampered a lot. As time goes by, students and parents are going through depression, anxiety and many mental issues. Our demand from the Government of India is to accommodate all students in Indian medical colleges," the PAUMS statement had said recently.

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Thousands of students from India studying in various medical colleges across Ukraine had to abandon their courses and return home after Russian forces launched an offensive against the eastern European country. In April, too, parents of these MBBS students had staged a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding the government's intervention in bailing out the students. In March, a public interest litigation was filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions on the issue of admission and continuation of their studies in India. The plea also sought directions from the Centre to provide a medical subject equivalent orientation programme for such students.