Permanent Registration Pending! Andhra FMGs Fear Missing NEET PG 2025
FMGs in Andhra Pradesh
Amaravati: The Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) in Andhra Pradesh are worried about their eligibility to appear in the upcoming National Eligibility-Entrance Test for Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 examination, as many of them are still awaiting their Permanent Registrations, which is mandatory to apply for the postgraduate medical entrance examination.
Even though an interim AP Medical Council has been formed, the process of issuing Permanent Registrations has not resumed yet. On the other hand, the Temporary Registrations of many of these students have expired. Therefore, hundreds of aspirants are facing the consequences.
Commenting on the matter, a member of the All India Medical Students' Association-Foreign Medical Students' Wing (AIMSA-FMSW), Andhra Pradesh informed Medical Dialogues that even though APMC council formed a month ago, the Council Committee and Chairman have not been announced. Due to this, the decisions are still pending.
He further informed that the FMGs in Andhra Pradesh may not appear in the NEET PG exam since May 7th is the deadline for applications and the process of issuing Permanent/temporary Registrations has been delayed, and this is impacting everyone.
The member of the association also said that AIMSA-FMSW, Andhra Pradesh has already shared the info with the council regarding the current issues.
Also Read: Andhra FMGs Oppose 3-year Internship, Protest Demanding Permanent Registration
Medical Dialogues has been reporting on the issues faced by the FMGs while obtaining permanent registration. They were also complaining about the tenure of the internship assigned to them even though they duly compensated for their online classes. Reportedly, around 150 students, who pursued their medical education from abroad and applied for permanent registration after completing their one-year internship back in May, had not been allotted the Permanent Registration.
As per the association, NMC guidelines state that 1year internship is allocated only to those students who returned back to their countries and compensated their missed classes. But students claim that APMC failed to implement the NMC guidelines which in turn affected more than 200 students. Even though they comply with the NMC guidelines, allegedly, they are being allotted 2-3 years of internship, in violation of the NMC directives, alleged the association. This resulted in the protests and the process of allotting permanent registrations was also kept on hold.
Previously, one of the reasons that had been cited for the delay in issuing permanent registrations was the lack of a council body. As per the latest media report by The Hindu, the FMGs had a ray of hope when on March 24, the State Government issued a Government Order for the constitution of a six-member interim Medical Council.
Consequently, the new interim council members took charge on April 1 and a board meeting was expected to take place immediately to decide on the chairman from among the six members. The Hindu has reported that the chairman would take the final call on the FMG issue. However, the meeting has been postponed at least twice between April 1 and 21.
Meanwhile, May 7th being the deadline for NEET PG application, many FMGs are worried about their eligibility. Therefore, if the FMGs do not get the PRs before May 7th, many of these medical graduates from abroad would have to miss appearing in the NEET PG exam. Among the FMGs, those who completed their one-year internships in May last year are suffering most as they had to skip NEET last year also for not having their Permanent Registrations.
Explaining the situation, an FMG told The Hindu, "We cannot apply for the exam without having either Temporary or Permanent Registration." He further mentioned that while PR was yet to be issued, the TR had already lapsed for them. He also mentioned that the Council members were supportive. However, they were unable to give a clear schedule.
"We have already spent six years on getting a degree, equivalent to MBBS, in a foreign university. Then, after completing our internship, we are being made to wait for a PR. When will we go for PG? How many more years before we complete our studies?" the student, who started his medical degree in Kyrgyzstan in 2016 said.
"The APMC, from the beginning, has been giving different reasons for the delay. At first, we were told that the council body was not formed. Then, we were asked to undergo another year of internship and later, we were told that a new compensatory certificate has to be submitted," another medical graduate from abroad added.
Meanwhile, APMC recently asked the FMGs to submit afresh the details of compensation, mentioning the period of online study and period of compensation of online study with offline mode, in a new format.
However, the FMGs said that the parent universities had refused to furnish the details without any circular from the NMC. They also sought information through the Right to Information to find out if there was any circular from the NMC regarding a new format of compensatory certificates.
Commenting on this, the FMG from Kyrgyzstan questioned, "There has not been any circular asking for a new format of compensatory certificates. When no other State is asking for such details, why should the APMC insist on it?"
The Hindu has reported that as per the information from the Council, an executive body has to be formed and the FMG's issue will be discussed during its first sitting. However, unfortunately, there is no clarity on when the executive body will be formed. Amid this situation, a few medical graduates from abroad, who cleared the screening test i.e. Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) recently, have begun to choose other States to complete their internship since there is uncertainty in the process of issuing PRs in Andhra Pradesh.
