Supreme Court gives Centre 6 weeks to find solution for foreign medical graduates

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday has given six weeks time for the Centre to come up with a solution to accommodate undergraduate medical (MBBS) students who have returned from foreign countries like Ukraine and China.

Last month, the apex court bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath asked the Centre to form a committee of experts to find a solution for nearly 20,000 foreign medical students who could not complete their education due to COVID-19 pandemic and Russian-Ukraine war.

“We can't go on compromising with medical education", the Bench stated that it will go by the recommendation by the committee.

The top court had earlier noted that most of the students have completed their courses but have not been able to undergo their clinical training. The Centre, however, said that the foreign students cannot be accommodated in Indian medical colleges due to lack of provision under the National Medical Commission (NMC) law to transfer any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute or university.

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However, several state governments last year said that they are ready to accept these students and help them in completing their course and that they were waiting for the Centre’s permission.

On July 28, 2022, the NMC issued a notice stating that the final year students who returned to India due to COVID-19 and Russia-Ukraine war and got degrees from their institutes on or before June 30, 2022, will be allowed for Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG) exam.

Upon qualifying for the FMG exam, they will be required to undergo a Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for two years instead of the existing one year, it said.