Students from Tamil Nadu who had gone to China to pursue medical education but had to return home due to the pandemic-induced lockdown have been struggling to complete their degree because of the needless hurdles created by the bureacracy.
Around 250 students of 2016-2021 batch belonging to Tamil Nadu had pursued their medical education in China but had to complete their 8th, 9th 10th semesters online due to the lockdown.
They had obtained completion certificates from their institutes in China and a 94 of them had cleared the Medical Council of India Screening Test (Foreign Medical Graduate Exam).
As per the Supreme Court order dated 29 April 2022, all foreign medical graduates who were in the last year of the course and had returned to India due to the pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war but subsequently obtained their degree on or before 30 June 2022 are eligible to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam. Those who pass the screening test are required to undergo Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CMRI) for a period of two years to make up for the clinical training which the students could not complete during the course and also to familiarize them with the practice of medicine in Indian conditions. This relaxation has been given as a one-time measure.
The graduates would be eligible for registration with the respective state medical councils only after the completion of the CMRI.
The students who had passed the screening test had applied for the Provisional Eligibility Certificate (PEC) with the Tamil Nadu Medical Council to start their CMRI. However, their applications were rejected by the state medical body stating that only those foreign medical students who had completed their last year of the course through online mode and obtained degree from their respective institutes before 30 June 2022 are eligible.
The students made a written submission to National Medical Commission (NMC), the apex medical education body, whose officials after verifying their documents had orally told them that they are eligible for the concession. However, the students say that the NMC hasn’t given any written clarification yet.
The students note that while their counterparts in other states are about to finish their CMRI and get their degrees, they have been languishing over uncertainty for over a year.
The students have been giving their representations to public representatives as well.
BJP MLA from Coimbatore Vanathi Srinivasan who had received the petition from students had taken up the issue with Union Health Minister Masukh Mandviya recently.
Mrs. Vanathi Srinivasan has shared that the Minister has given positive response and has agreed to resolve the issue at the earliest for the benefit of the students.
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