Big relief for Indian medical students as returnees get special chance to clear exams
In a big relief to medical students who returned from Ukraine, China, and the Philippines, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Indian medical students to clear the MBBS final examination in two attempts in accordance with the existing National Medical Council (NMC) syllabus and guidelines without being enrolled in any medical college in India. The Central government has submitted a report of an expert committee which said that as a one-time extraordinary measure, penultimate year students should be allowed to take the MBBS final examination. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, said that in view of the direction of the court, a committee was formed by the government over the issue.
The top court’s bench of Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath modified the Centre’s suggestion of allowing them only one attempt as a one-time measure and disposed of all the petitions of the medical students. More than 14,000 students studying in medical colleges of Ukraine, China, and the Philippines returned to India due to war, and restrictions imposed after Covid Pandemic.
The court observed that it is no expert and largely accepted the recommendation made by the committee, but said that the only recommendation of concern was that the students were to be given only one attempt to clear the MBBS examination and hence modified it. The bench said that it was passing the order considering the special circumstances. The top court was hearing a batch of pleas filed by medical students who completed seven semesters in their respective foreign universities, and had to return to India on account of the pandemic and completed their undergraduate medical course through online mode.
The batch of petitions primarily sought accommodation of such undergraduate students of first to fourth year from various medical colleges/ universities to medical colleges in India and other reliefs. On December 30, 2022, the Centre set up a committee, under the chairmanship of DGHS, for finding some possible solutions for problems being faced by foreign medical graduates from Ukraine/ China, who have completed online classes of undergraduate medical courses from the penultimate year onwards.
The panel had recommended the students may be offered a “single chance” to clear the MBBS final, both part-I and part-II (both theory and practical) as per the existing NMC syllabus and guidelines without being enrolled in any of the existing Indian Medical College. This recommendation had been modified by the apex court to mean two chances.
The bench had said that various situations were beyond human control and a situation like the Covid pandemic has been unimaginable. “We find that the career of around 500 medical students who have already put in five years of study are at stake. They have already completed seven semesters of study physically and three semesters through online…The parents of the students must have spent a huge amount on their studies. If no solution is found, at this stage, the entire career of these students would be left in the lurch, apart from the families being put at sufferance”, said the Supreme Court of India giving major relief to the medical students.
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