The chairman of Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra on Thursday took to Twitter to point out the glaring shortfall in number of medical colleges within India for students interested in pursuing medical studies within the country. This comes on the back of several Indian citizens currently being stranded in war-torn Ukraine, of which large numbers happen to be students pursuing medical studies.
Mahindra on Twitter wrote, “I had no idea that there was such a shortfall of medical colleges in India. @C_P_Gurnani could we explore the idea of establishing a medical studies institution on the campus of @MahindraUni ?"
Netizens were quick to respond to the tweet, with a comment from P Vamshidhar Reddy, which said, “yes good idea but shouldn't keep fees like crores what other institutions do," drawing a response from Mahindra. Mahindra retweeted Reddy's comment saying, “noted," just as high cost of fees continues to burden students who wish to pursue medical studies in India.
Meanwhile, Indian students stare at uncertainty over completing MBBS in Ukraine as the country is currently under siege. Uzaif Rabbani is spending his days in a bunker in Ukraine's Kharkiv amid a fierce Russian offensive, hoping for evacuation, but as the fourth-year medical student waits, he like many from India, is worried if he will ever be able to complete his education, PTI reported.
However, government officials said a meeting will soon be held to discuss the issue with all stakeholders, keeping in view the extraordinary situation in Ukraine. The matter will be looked into "sympathetically", they said.
Rabbani's situation is shared by many Indian students enrolled in medical courses in institutes in the war-torn country. The new rules of the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate regulations state that MBBS aspirants can take up to 10 years to complete the programme.
They also state that besides the minimum course work tenure of 4.5 years, candidates need to intern for two years, including 12 months in the foreign medical institute where they are studying and another year of supervised internship in India.
The MBBS programme in Ukraine lasts for six years, and being much affordable in comparison to that in private medical colleges in India, it is a popular choice among Indian students.
"As of now, there are no norms and regulations under the National Medical Commission to accommodate medical students, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian medical colleges in between an academic session," a health ministry official told PTI, on the condition of anonymity.
"However, keeping in view such extraordinary situations, the Indian government will look into the matter sympathetically. A meeting to discuss this issue with all stakeholders is likely to take place soon," he said.
Depleting food stock and long queues for water are adding to the trauma of stranded Indian students in the war-hit nation, while they await evacuation amid reports of some being roughed up by security personnel and spending freezing nights out in the open.
(With inputs from agencies)
