With China’s recent move of only allowing certain international student cohorts to enter the country and continue their studies, a plea moved by Indian medical students enrolled in Chinese universities was made.
On 10th Feb 2022, the Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Centre and the National Medical Council regarding the plea, which sought permission for the students to practice physical training in India since they have been stuck in the country as a result of the pandemic.
The petitioners include a total of 147 medical students enrolled with the Ningbo University in China who had returned to India between January and March 2020. These students have been unable to return to their university as there has been an issue with the availability of the appropriate Chinese visas.
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Issuing a notice to respondents orally, the Divison Bench of Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the respondents to deal with and resolve the issue, citing that they are just students… praying to receive an arrangement to continue their studies properly.
According to the media reports, the plea outline several different aspects of Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, which have been highlighted below:
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Students have sought direction on Clause 2 (iii) of Schedule I Schedule-I of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, as of 18.11.2021, which requires students to complete their training/internship/clerkship outside India, in the same foreign medical institution during their course of study.
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Further, they sought to have the NMC recognise online classes attended by the petitioners that were conducted by their respective universities. They further sought to court’s help in directing the Ministry of External Affairs in meeting with the appropriate Chinese authorities to address and resolve the concerns raised by the petitioners.
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Moreover, the petition also sought to direct NMC in allowing physical training/internship/clerkship of the petitioners, once they have received the necessary permissions from Ningbo University in China, further recognising the completion of their course from any other university outside of China.
The media reports also shed light on the response received to an RTI application filed by a student, currently a petitioner to the National Medical Commission, where, as on Jan 1, 2022, the response stated that the “NMC grants permission recognition to the Medical Colleges Institutions within the country. Medical Graduates with a Foreign Medical Degree qualification may appear in Screening Test for his/her registration in India, if the Medical Qualification Degree has been recognised in the country from where the same has been acquired.’
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With the current “extraordinary circumstances”, the plea highlighted that the petitioners are neither allowed to receive physical training/internship/clerkships in India by the NMC nor has any clarifications regarding the authorities approving of the online theory classes, attended by the petitioners from the respective Medical University in China, been offered.
Additionally, the petitioners have been denied permission to transfer from the present medical university in China to any other medical university abroad, excluding those in China, keeping the Regulations, 2021 in view.
Source: Economic Times - India Times
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