Supreme court issues notice to NMC over delay in FMG Internship

New Delhi: The Supreme Court recently issued notice to the National Medical Commission (NMC) in a plea challenging the 'arbitrary and unreasonable inaction' on the part of NMC and other State authorities in initiating the process of Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) for Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Filing the plea, the Association of Doctors and Medical Students (ADAMS) and other petitioners, all of whom are FMGs from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, sought a writ of mandamus directing the Apex Medical Commission, and the State Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and the respective State Medical Councils to immediately initiate the CRMI process and allocate internship slots to eligible FMGs.

After successfully completing their undergraduate medical education from foreign universities, the petitioners returned to India to serve the Country's healthcare system. To be eligible to practice medicine in India, the petitioners cleared the screening test i.e. Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) conducted by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS).

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As per the latest media report by The Bar Bulletin, the petitioners have obtained provisional registration with their respective State Medical Councils and have become fully eligible to commence CRMI as mandated under the National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations, 2021.

However, the petitioners submitted that while most States have commenced the CRMI process for FMGs, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are allegedly yet to commence the process even though the results for the FMGE screening test were declared more than six months ago. They submitted before the Supreme Court that they were left in a state of uncertainty and distress as no notification was issued to commence the internship since January 2025.

In the plea, the FMGs submitted that the inordinate and unexplained delay had resulted in the petitioners remaining unemployed for the past six months, causing severe financial hardships and unjustifiably impeding the progression of their professional careers. They highlighted that, except for the States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, most other States across the country had already commenced the CRMI process for the FMGs. They argued that the FMGs from Kerala and Tamil Nadu were being arbitrarily and discriminatorily denied the opportunity to complete their CRMI, effectively depriving them of the right to earn a livelihood and contribute to the nation’s healthcare system, SCC Online has reported.

The petitioners have prayed for a direction to the respondents to initiate the CRMI process for FMGs and immediately allocate the CRMI to the petitioners.

NMC released the CRMI regulations through its notification dated 18.11.2021. Rule 3 of these regulations unequivocally stated that CRMI shall be an integral part of the undergraduate medical education degree. These regulations mandated FMGs to undergo rotational postings in all clinical departments of a hospital. Further, Rule 4 of CRMI Regulations placed a statutory bar on granting permanent registration to any medical student who has not completed the CRMI training in India.

Medical Dialogues had reported that earlier this year, doctors under ADAMS urged the National Medical Commission (NMC) to issue guidelines to the State Medical Councils to accept provisional registration applications with scorecards and entry slips. The association made this request considering the issue of prolonged pass certificate collection dates faced by medical graduates from abroad who cleared the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) December 2024 session- from 24th February to 23rd May 2025.