India has no plans to reconsider ban on Pakistani MBBS, BDS degrees for FMGE, jobs: Govt

NEW DELHI: The Centre reiterated on Friday that Indian nationals or Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) having MBBS, BDS, or equivalent medical degrees obtained from Pakistani medical colleges will not be eligible to appear in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) or seek employment in India.

Lok Sabha MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi asked the Union ministry of health and family welfare whether it will reconsider its advisories barring students with Pakistani MBBS degrees from employment/higher studies in India. To which, the ministry told the Parliament that it continues to bar Indian nationals from Pakistan medical colleges for exams and jobs in India, “except those who had joined Pakistan degree colleges/institutions before December 2018 or later after obtaining Security Clearance from MHA till date”.

“However, migrants and their children who have acquired medical degree or higher education in Pakistan and have been awarded citizenship by India would continue to be eligible for appearing in FMGE/NEXT or seeking employment in India after obtaining Security Clearance from MHA,” the ministry said.

Answering a question, “whether marks for FMGE 2022 were delayed/withheld due to pending security clearances from Ministry of Home Affairs”, the health ministry in February 2025 told the Lok Sabha that the results of 8 candidates were withheld in 2022, the same year when the National Medical Commission (NMC) declared that medical degrees from Pakistan would not be considered valid.

The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS), which conducts the FMGE for granting certificates for foreign medical graduates to practice medicine in India, said that the results are withheld if a student fails to fulfill the security clearance requirement from the ministry of home affairs. Reasons for not declaring their results in the last 5 years also include, unfair means, non-issuance of eligibility certificate, mismatch in face ID and biometric verification.