Fate of students from Ukraine uncertain

Pravasi Legal Cell, an NGO has moved Delhi High Court seeking direction to the Union of India and National Medical Commission (NMC) to allow the students who returned from Ukraine to join Indian medical colleges. The petition seeks direction to the respondents to take appropriate steps to enable and facilitate continuance of studies for Ukraine-returned Indian medical students in the medical colleges in India from the stage their studies in Ukraine have been disrupted on account of the war.

The plea referred to the thousands of students who could manage to flee to the safety of their homeland from the war torn Ukraine and said they had to migrate to Ukraine due to affordability issues amongst others. The travails of the Ukraine returnees are not over, the plea adds to point out that there are no norms or regulations in India to accommodate those students in the midst of an academic session.

This is a problem confronting not just the students but also the State governments like Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, two States which have gone ahead and assured the students of their rehabilitation here. The plea highlights the Fundamental Right to Life under Article 21 to claim that they have a right to access and continue their medical education in India in the present scenario. Earlier, the Indian Medical Commission also recommended the Centre to accommodate these students in Indian medical colleges.

"We don't want to lose those 20,000 to-be-doctors who have faced so many difficulties on their way back to India and already they are in mental agony and kind of nervousness. Not giving them the opportunity, these students will lose their two years, resulting in their bleak future so we have requested the government to take it into account," said Dr Jayesh M Lele, General Secretary of IMC.

But the Medical bodies of Kerala and Tamil Nadu have cautioned the Indian Government against the move. While the Indian Medical Association (IMA) at the national level also urged the Union government to accommodate students from Ukraine in Indian colleges as a one-time measure, IMA Kerala as well as the Tamil Nadu State Medical Council have objected to the move.

Both organisations have said that doing so would be unfair to candidates who qualified through NEET with better scores but couldn't pursue a medical education, as well as students from China and the Philippines who have been unable to return to their universities for over two years due to the pandemic. Any such move certainly opens up a Pandora's Box.

Those objecting to such absorption have another valid point too: Is it possible for the Indian Medical Colleges to take in such a large number of students while it could affect the education of the rest of the students as well. Indian medical colleges are saturated with students, and the facilities in some of the medical colleges are already inadequate.

If so many students are admitted, there is a possibility that the standards of education will be further affected. Even as a one-time measure, it could affect doctors in training and it could affect society. Even transfers between Indian medical colleges have been stopped recently. There cannot be two sets of rules - one for the Ukraine students and the other for those studying in China and Philippine colleges and who are stuck here due to Covid-19 conditions.