Kerala FMGs Asked to Pay 15 Times more as Registration Fee, NMC Intervention sought

Thiruvananthapuram: Highlighting the striking disparity regarding the provisional and permanent registration charges levied on Indian and foreign medical graduates in Kerala, an association, which represents medical graduates from abroad, has sought the intervention of the National Medical Commission (NMC) in this regard.

The Association of Doctors and Medical Students (ADAMS) has urged the Apex Medical Commission to take necessary actions to bring equality and justice by instructing the Kerala State Medical Council (KSMC) to reconsider this levying of hefty charges from FMGs regarding provisional and permanent registration.

While Indian Medical Graduates are charged Rs 1000 for provisional and Rs 3000 for obtaining permanent registration, medical graduates from abroad are charged Rs 15,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.

Writing to NMC, ADAMS has urged the Commission to instruct the State Medical Council to issue revised provisional and permanent registration charges for FMGs, at par with that of IMGs (1000 Rs for provisional registration and 3000 Rs for permanent registration).

In its letter directed to the Secretary of NMC, ADAMS highlighted how as per the KSMC website, the charges for provisional registration for FMGs are 15 times higher than Indian Medical Graduates. On the other hand, the fees for the FMGs to obtain permanent registration is 6.67 times higher than the IMGs.

"From the above data, it is visible that hefty registration charges are levied by Kerala State Medical Council for FMGs," the association mentioned in the letter.

Explaining why the extra charges are levied on FMGs, the association wrote in the letter, "As per our understanding the difference between IMGs and FMGs regarding registration is that FMGs have to undergo several verifications in order to complete the registration process. FMGs verification contains NMC verification, University verification, Embassy verification, Plus Two verification while IMGs don't have this much verification."

However, ADAMS pointed out that "As all these verifications for FMGs are done via email, there shall be no surcharge or extra financial burden for the SMC for completing the verification process."

The association has also urged the Commission to consider the financial situation of the FMGs and their families. It pointed out that FMGs are Indian citizens who came back to India, in the hope of serving the people in their native state and homeland. Further, it highlighted that FMGs, until obtaining permanent registration to work, are considered as students and are not earning. Therefore, they have to depend on their parents to meet their day-to-day expenses till they get permanent registration and license for work.