Major Relief for FMGs: TN cuts Internship Fee by 90 percent
Chennai: Bringing huge relief to the Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) from Tamil Nadu, the State Government on Friday announced almost 90% fee reduction for the FMGs willing to undergo Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship (CRRI) in India.
The confirmation regarding this came from the State Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian, who confirmed that instead of paying almost Rs 5.20 lakh for the internship, the medicos will now have to pay a meagre amount of Rs 30,000.
"This was decided at a meeting with Chief Minister M K Stalin who took a considerate view of the plight of the medicos who faced difficulties in pursuing internship in the State," he said.
Apart from completely waiving off Rs 2 lakh to be paid to the government, it was decided to drastically reduce Rs 3.20 lakh to be paid to the MGR Medical University, the Minister told the media.
It would be adequate if a medico pays Rs 30,000 alone for the training now, he said and called upon them to approach the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) to avail themselves of the CRRI, adds PTI.
Also Read: Relief to Foreign Medical Graduates: TN Slashes Fees for obtaining NOC by 90 percent
In the case of Tamil Nadu, in order to enroll themselves in the CRRI programmes, the students need to pay fees to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University for obtaining a no-objection certificate.
Previously, the medical graduates had to pay Rs 3.54 lakh to the University, along with Rs 2 lakh to the preferred medical college where they were undergoing the mandatory CRRI training.
Medical Dialogues had last year reported that the FMGs belonging to Tamil Nadu had objected to such a high fee for undergoing CRRI training. Finding the amount exorbitant, the FMGs, under the umbrella of Foreign Medical Graduate students' Wing of Tamil Nadu Medical Student Association, had requested the state authorities to reduce the amount significantly considering the pandemic.
Taking note of their plight, earlier in 2022, the the State Government had decided to slash the required fees for obtaining a no-objection-certificates by 90 per cent. Back then the State Health Minister Subramanian had announced that in order to obtain the NOC, the medicos would have to pay only Rs 29,400 instead of Rs 3.54 lakh. However, this reduction had been made only in the case of payment to the University. Apart from Rs 29, 400, the students still had to pay another Rs 2 lakh to the preferred colleges for getting themselves enrolled in the CRRI programme.
Meanwhile, back in March 2022, the National Medical Commission (NMC) provided major relief to to the Foreign Medical Graduates who want to pursue internship in India. NMC had clarified that the Indian medical colleges shall not charge any fees from the medical graduates from abroad for permitting them to do internship in India.
In fact, the apex medical regulator had further made it clear that the FMGs would be paid equal stipend and other facilities just like the Indian Medical Graduates who are being trained at Government Medical Colleges.
The reason for such relief on NMC's part was the fact that the medical graduates from abroad were facing hardship in getting themselves registered in some of the State medical Councils after publication of Foreign Medical Graduates Licentiate Regulations, 2021 and Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship Regulations, 2021 by National Medical Commission.
Complying with the NMC directions, the State Government of Tamil Nadu has now decided to slash the Rs 2 lakh fees that needs to be paid to the Government. Further it has also reduced the Rs 3.20 lakh fees that the medicos need to pay to the MGR Medical University.
Speaking about the same, the State Health Minister further clarified that with the NMC accepting the demand of the Chief Minister, about 521 FMGs could now take up internship at the 11 newly established medical colleges. Also, the government has simplified the certificate verification process for them.
