FMGs protest at NMC office decrying delay in eligibility certificates, urge Health Ministry intervention
New Delhi: Medical graduates from abroad who belong to different States across the country gathered at the NMC office today, highlighting the issue of unnecessary delays on the part of the Apex Medical Commission in issuing the eligibility certificates.
Despite submitting the required application for eligibility certificates, which is mandatory for foreign medical graduates to appear in the screening test, i.e., Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) or enrol for the mandatory internship, these FMGs have not been issued the eligibility certificates for the last 1-2 years.
Blaming the Apex Medical Commission for the "systemic failure and irresponsible behaviour", the All FMGs Association (AFA) has demanded an immediate solution regarding the issue. The association has also urged the Union Health Minister Shri J P Nadda and the Union Health Ministry to intervene.
"This is the state of medical education under @NMC_BHARAT where even their own guidelines are ignored by them and FMGs are left to suffer due to unnecessary delays in issuing eligibility certificates. Today 50–100 FMGs are sitting in front of the NMC office with a very genuine concern: the @NMC_BHARAT has not issued eligibility certificates to them for years, without any clear reason. In the name of “verification,” the process is being indefinitely delayed. What kind of verification takes 1–2 years to complete? This is a clear case of systemic failure and irresponsible behavior. We urgently request @MoHFW_INDIA and @JPNadda ji to intervene. @NMC_BHARAT address these genuine demands and solve it," the association mentioned in an X post.
Explaining the issue, Dr. Kaushal from AFA told Medical Dialogues that back in 2018, a direction was issued that if any student wishes to pursue medical education abroad, they need to qualify the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Undergraduate exam. Before that, eligibility certificates were issued to students for pursuing MBBS abroad. So, they directed that till 5th June 2019, the students could apply for eligibility certificates. However, after that, all the candidates taking admission abroad must clear the NEET exam.
Thereafter, they provided some kind of exemption because some students had already enrolled in the BS course (a pre-medical course) in the Philippines. The issue mainly concerned the students of 2018-2019 and the 2019-2020 batch. These students could not appear in the NEET exam either due to the pandemic or other reasons. So, they applied for the eligibility certificates.
On 07.12.2023, NMC issued guidelines stating that such students who have already commenced their pre-medical education i.e. B.S. course in the Philippines or the pre-medical/language courses in any other foreign countries, were allowed to take admission in MBBS or equivalent medical course in a medical university outside the country in the academic year 2018-19 and 2019-20. However, such candidates were required to obtain/apply for an eligibility certificate from the Medical Council of India u/s 13(4B) of the IMC Act, 1956.
"However, these students have not been getting their eligibility certificates for the last one and half year," Dr. Kaushal told Medical Dialogues. "Around 200-400 such students are from the Philippines. However, other students are also facing similar issues," he added.
Dr. Kaushal said that it was not clear why they are not getting the eligibility certificates within a proper time frame. "Earlier, when MCI was here, eligibility certificates used to be issued within days." He also pointed out that the application fee for eligibility certificates during the time of MCI was also lower than what is now being charged by NMC.
"The process is not complicated. Everyone has their documents," he said.
Also Read: NMC reopens portal for eligibility certificates applications, check details
