Satya Prakash
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 15
The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that Indian medical students forced to return from Ukraine due to the Russia-Ukraine war can’t be given admission to Indian medical colleges in the absence of any provision in the National Medical Commission Act allowing such accommodation.
Allowing such relaxation will hamper the standards of medical education in India, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in an affidavit filed in the top court.
The affidavit has been filed in response to petitions filed by Indian medical students evacuated from Ukraine seeking permission to continue their further studies in India.
A Bench led by Justice Hemant Gupta ndash; which had on August 26 issued notice to the Centre and NMC on the petition ndash; deferred the hearing to Friday after the Centre’s counsel said an affidavit has been filed by the health ministry.
Maintaining that the petitioner students went to foreign countries due to poor NEET ranking and affordability, the Centre said allowing poor merit students in premier medical colleges in India can lead to further litigation. They won’t be able to afford the fee structure of medical colleges in India, it added.
The Centre said it has taken proactive measures to assist students evacuated from Ukraine, balancing the need to maintain the requisite standard of medical education.
Any further relaxation would also seriously hamper the standards of medical education in the country, the affidavit stated.
Citing the extraordinary situation created by the Russia-Ukraine war that impeded their education, the petitioners said they were going through immense mental hardship and agony since their entire education and career had virtually come to a standstill since February 2022, with no foreseeable restoration of peace in the war-torn country.
They said the education of about 14,000 evacuated Indian students has come to a complete halt as their careers stand to be irreparably jeopardized and their fundamental rights protected under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India have become illusory.
The petitioner urged the top court to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution view of the extraordinary situation on account of the ongoing war in Ukraine to protect the interests of the evacuated students and their migration to Indian Medical Colleges.
“The unfortunate situation which has transpired in the present case is that the petitioners are neither in a position to resume their education at their respective institutions in Ukraine nor permitted to continue their education at institutions in India under the present regulations,” the petition read.
They have sought direction under Section 45 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, upon the NMC to frame guidelines and SOPs for the migration of Indian medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Indian Medical Colleges as a one-time measure in the equivalent academic year.
They said the Centre should issue necessary directions under Section 46 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019; and an appropriate direction upon the respondents to provide adequate infrastructural/academic and financial support for the continuation of medical education of the evacuated Indian students from Ukraine.
