Kerala High Court issues notice to Centre, NMC on Foreign Medicos plea seeking practical training in India

Filed by a registered Association representing the foreign medical students, especially enrolled in China, the plea demanded practical training in India until the travel restrictions to China are lifted, adds Live Law.

Admitting the matter, Justice N. Nagaresh listed it for further hearing on March 30.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported about a similar plea that was pending before the Delhi High Court. Indian Medical Students belonging to Chinese medical colleges had approached the HC seeking permission for pursuing their physical training in India.

Thousands of such students got stuck at their homes for more than one year after the Covid-19 outbreak and they were unable to go back to their parent institutes in China as the Government in there had officially announced that foreign students and teachers would not return to their colleges until further notice.

Although the students were desperate to go back and they had sought the intervention of authorities including the Ministry of External Affairs, United Nations (UN), nothing has happened yet to solve the problems of these students.

Meanwhile, NMC has denied recognizing the online studies of those students and the apex medical regulator also clarified that those students would not be allowed to attend the eligibility test in India as well.

Also Read: MBBS students enrolled in China medical colleges seek training in India: HC issues notice to NMC, MEA

Now a similar plea has been filed before the Kerala High Court on the behalf of 92 foreign medical students enrolled in the Chinese medical institutes. Compelled to return to India during the beginning of the pandemic, some of these students are now in their 5^th year of studies and they are pursuing the same via online mode.

Although their course structure includes five years of theory with practical and clinical training along with one additional year of compulsory internship, the pandemic resulted in a situation where these students could only pursue their theory classes online, leaving aside the mandatory practical and clinical training.

When on the one hand, NMC arranged for supplementary practical classes for Indian medical students after the colleges re-opened, no such remedy could be availed by the foreign medical students enrolled in China.

As per the latest media report by Live Law, approaching the Kerala HC, the counsel for the petitioners Senior Advocate George Poonthottam claimed how NMC and the government denied taking any responsibility to help these students complete their education. Further, neither NMC nor the Government passed any order accepting their education via online mode.

In fact, NMC declared on February 8, 2022 that it does not recognize medical courses done only via online mode.

It was submitted by the petitioners that while they didn't undermine the importance of practical training, the prejudicial approach of the government and NMC in not helping the foreign medicos violated Article 14.

"The students are treated as outcasts without any rights, when they have done nothing in contradictory to the law of the land. The students in Exhibit-P1 list are NEET qualified students, forced to study abroad due to their financial Constraints. The country has failed in providing affordable medical education and increasing the number of seats available for medical education in the country. The state of Kerala happens to levy the lowest fees among all the states of India, even this is much higher than the fees the students would have to pay in top Chinese universities to receive their medical education," read the plea.

Referring to the fact that the Chinese Universities recognize internship one in the home countries of the students if the hospital has WHO-approved standards, the plea mentioned how the Indian commission didn't give them the opportunity for completing practical training or Internship in India.

"Doctors are unarguably the backbone of any medical fraternity and in a country like India with its deplorable doctor-patient ratio (0.68 doctor per 1000 patients, way below the ratio recommended as per WHO), it is counter intuitive to witness the medical commission and government to put forth such a callous attitude towards the future of medical students," the plea stated.

Submitting all these factors, the plea sought a direction upon the respondent authorities allowing the students to avail practical training and join a compulsory internship at any of the medical colleges in India.

Further, the prayer included the approval from NMC regarding the validity of online classes attended by the petitioners since their return to India. The plea also sought to declare their degrees to be valid, at par and equivalent to the degrees issued by the Indian Medical Universities.

New Indian Express adds that admitting the plea, the HC bench issued notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, State Government and the National Medical Commission.The mattter would be heard next on March 30.