Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin had requested the Centre to help Ukraine returnees. The Tamil Nadu Medical Council on Sunday said that Chief Minister M K Stalin’s request to the union government to facilitate medical students, who returned from war-torn Ukraine, to take admissions in medical colleges in India may not be feasible.
On March 7, Stalin, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asked the central government to take up the issue with the National Medical Commission and demanded urgent steps “to immediately find a way out to enable the affected students to continue their studies in medical colleges in India…”.
Talking to The Indian Express on Sunday, K Senthil, president of the Tamil Nadu Medical Council, said that as per the existing rules for medical education in India, such admissions are not possible. “I don’t think an amendment to the existing rules to accommodate medical students returned from Ukraine is right. It is too early to discuss that; we have to wait and see. Hopefully, they may get admissions in some other foreign country permitting students from Ukraine or they have to get back to Ukraine after the war ends,” he said.
The state medical council will meet on March 18 and is likely to issue a formal decision on the issue.
Several council members feel that the idea to accommodate Ukraine-returnees may not be appropriate. “Indian rules are very clear; unless you amend the National Medical Council Act, you cannot allow such admissions. Talking about their admissions in India is neither possible nor a right thing to do,” said a council member.
“…Students who studied medicine in China have a similar case. They have been in India for 26 months due to Covid and visa problems. They do not have this problem because countries such as China and Philippines are awarding MBBS degrees based on online degrees,” said another member, referring to a case pending in Supreme Court after they (the students) were denied registration in India as they obtained degrees based on online MBBS programmes.
Regarding Stalin’s letter to the PM, this member said it was out of “goodwill.” “It was more of an emotional statement,” the member added.
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