Medical students who returned from Ukraine and china are distressed as they can’t get admission in their own country

The future of thousands of children studying medicine in Ukraine and China hangs in balance.  When Russia attacked Ukraine these children had no choice but to return home. Though they made it to the home country in the middle of their studies thanks to operation Ganga are now in a quandary as they can neither go back to their college to complete their studies nor join Indian universities as they would not allow them admissions.

When they were evacuated they were promised that they would be able to continue their studies in Indian universities but after months of waiting, they are still waiting for admission.

After trying all channels they have not received any assurance from anybody regarding their future studies. They cannot return for obvious reasons and cannot study at home. Most of them were pursuing medical science which requires a certain amount of practical training. After exhausting all channels these desperate students sat on a 5-day hunger strike in Delhi.

They have made a poignant appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider their request for admission to any Indian university. Even last month these students had sat on a dharna in n Jantar Mantar but to no avail, More than 40,000 students studying in Ukraine and China had to abandon their medical courses mid-way due to pandemics and war. While China has agreed to take back students on a case-by-case basis the future of students who were in Ukraine is uncertain. The war is still going on in Ukraine and even if it stopped it is very unlikely that the college they were studying in would resume its normal functioning.

In this situation, the government should be considerate enough to give them some respite by admitting them to the university as a special case. The biggest stumbling block in admitting these students has been the National Medical Commission which has ruled out transfer or accommodation to any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute or university since there are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019

These children have already gone through a lot of trauma and if they are denied education in their own country their life would be ruined. Rules must be amended to accommodate these children. Definitely, some special arrangements can be made by which these students could complete this course and pursue their careers.