MBBS Abroad: 90 percent students fail to qualify NEET, says Minister Joshi
Delhi: As many students remain stranded in war-stricken Ukraine, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi's controversial statement has created a stir on Monday as he claimed about "90% of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India".
However, responding to the questions of media, he added that "This is not the right time to debate why students are moving out to study medicine."
As per the rules, the medicos who pursue MBBS from abroad had to appear for Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) to be able to start a medical practice in India. While talking about rescuing students stranded in Ukraine, the minister suggested that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), the all India medical entrance test is quite difficult to qualify. Hence, students often decide to pursue medicine abroad.
Many made sarcastic remarks about "NIFT rejects" (those who failed the all-India medical entrance test) studying in Ukraine. Others have claimed that India lacks sufficient medical seats to accommodate all meritorious candidates. They also emphasized the country's low doctor-to-patient ratio, claiming that the situation would have been even worse if foreign university graduates had not returned to practice, reports NDTV.
As the reports of hostile conditions between Ukraine and India emerges, the recordings from students wanting to flee the country have poured in. Students can be heard pleading for help and claiming that they are not being permitted to board trains. They claim they are being forcefully pushed off trains and are being manhandled. According to the students, they are being forced to wait for hours without food or drink at the border, where many have arrived after traveling miles in sub-zero temperatures. One of the students, a 21-year-old Karnataka native, died in Kharkiv yesterday as a result of Russian shelling, reports a daily.
In response to reports that Indians are being targeted in the war-torn nation because India refrained from voting at the UN Security Council, Joshi said the government has yet to authenticate such videos that are being posted on social media. However, he acknowledged that students, notably in Kharkiv and Kyiv, are experiencing difficulties and are unable to obtain food and water, reports TOI.
Meanwhile, former prime minister HD Deve Gowda on Monday urged everyone to work together and not politicize the evacuation process from Ukraine. In a series of tweets, he said: "... Scoring points at this hour of crisis will make us look bad. I have been watching videos of our young citizens stranded in Ukraine making fervent pleas for evacuation. It is heart-wrenching to see their plight. But when war is raging in that country and there is so much uncertainty on the ground, and when operational links are broken, it is only fair that we support our officers and embassies to focus on the job at hand."
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