No provision to transfer Ukraine students to Indian varsities, Centre tells SC

The Centre said the aggrieved petitioners had gone to foreign countries due to poor merit in NEET and affordability of medical education in such foreign countries

The Centre has told the Supreme Court that medical students who returned from Ukraine cannot be accommodated in Indian universities in view of absence of any statutory provision as well as possible damage to standards of medical education in the country.

"The plea seeking transfer of these returnee students to medical colleges in India would not only be dehors the provisions of Indian Medical Council Act 1956, and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, as well as the regulations made thereunder, but would also seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.

In an affidavit, the Centre said the aggrieved petitioners had gone to foreign countries for two reasons, firstly, due to poor merit in the NEET Exam, secondly, affordability of medical education in such foreign countries.

“In case, these students with poor merit are allowed admission in premier medical colleges in India by default, there may be several litigations from those desirous candidates who could not get seats in these colleges and have taken admission in either lesser-known colleges or have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges,” it said.

“Further, in case of affordability, if these candidates are allocated private medical colleges in India, they once again may not be able to afford the fees structure of the concerned institution," it added.

The affidavit added that the Centre in consultation with the NMC, the apex medical education regulatory body in the country, has taken proactive measures to assist returnee students from Ukraine, while balancing the need to maintain the requisite standard of medical education in the country.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia is likely to take up on Friday a batch of matters filed by the students from Ukraine seeking permission to complete their medical education here. About 20,000 students had reportedly returned after the attack by Russian forces in February-March.

The government, for its part said, in so far as such students are concerned, there are no such provisions either under the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 or the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the Regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes/colleges to Indian medical colleges.

"Till now, no permission has been given by the NMC to trade or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute/university," the Centre said.

With regard to allegation of refusal of Ukrainian universities to entertain the applications of students for the academic mobility in their first semester of the academic years 2022-23, the government said it is completely vague, and devoid of any details of such students or the concerned universities.

The provision of academic mobility programme was permitted only for those students who are already undergoing medical education in medical universities of Ukraine and are unable to finish such education because of disruption caused by the undergoing war, it pointed out.

The Centre said the public notice issued by NMC on September 6 is a no-objection for academic mobility between foreign universities for students who could not complete studies due to the war.

The phrase "global mobility" cannot be interpreted to mean accommodation of these students in Indian colleges/universities, as the extant regulations in India do not permit migration of students from foreign universities to India, it added.