20K Indian students returned from Ukraine: Govt

New Delhi: The government on Friday told the Lok Sabha that about 20,000 Indian students have returned from Ukraine, as per the data provided by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Minister of State for Health, Bharati Pravin Pawar said that as per information received from MEA, the Indian Embassy in Kiev has communicated with all the concerned universities in Ukraine for providing transcript and other documents in a smooth manner to the students.

All details have been provided on the website of the Embassy to assist students to address any related issues.

The eligibility Requirement for Taking Admission in an Undergraduate Medical Course in a Foreign Medical Institution Regulation, 2002 provides for that any Indian citizen overseas intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS course.

The result of the NEET shall be deemed to be treated as the Eligibility Certificate for such persons and no separate permission required from NMC.

Therefore, data of students going abroad to pursue MBBS is not maintained centrally. Foreign Medical Students/Graduates are either covered under "Screening Test Regulations, 2002" or "Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021".

There are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 as well as the Regulations to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to Indian medical colleges.

No permission has been given by the NMC to transfer or accommodate any foreign medical students in any Indian medical institute.