Union minister stokes controversy with comment on Indian students studying medicine abroad

Amid the Ukraine crisis and the trouble faced by Indian students stranded in that country, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed that “90 per cent of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India”.

Though the Parliamentary Affairs Minister tried to run down the issue saying it is “not the right time to debate why students are moving out to study medicine”, the issue had stoked a controversy.

Speaking to a media group, the Union Minister also said that 60 per cent of the Indian students who go abroad land up in China, Russia and Ukraine because of low fee and cost of living.

It may be noted that students who study medical abroad have to pass the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE) to practice medicine in India. Joshi’s comment was criticised for its timing because anxious parents are eagerly waiting for their children to come back safe.

Congress media in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said Union Minister Pralhad Joshi had insulted the student community of India. “This is the tragedy where the BJP government has no evacuation plan while Prahlad Joshi decries and insults our students in Ukraine. This is a government of only photo ops, no action.”

A member of the National Medical Commission said that we as society need to analyse why Indian medical education is proving to be unaffordable for many and the ever increasing gap between demand and supply.

Also read: Is NEET driving students abroad to study medicine?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a massive exodus of residents and immigrants, who are finding alternate routes to escape the conflict zone.

Caught in the crossfire are thousands of Indian students who went to study in the country and now are finding it difficult to get back home with Ukraine shutting down its airspace following Russia’s attack on February 24.

A 21-year-old Indian student, Naveen Shekharappa, was killed in the shelling as Russian forces fired missiles on a local government building at Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second major city after capital Kyiv.

To ensure a safe evacuation of these stranded students, the Indian government has initiated ‘Operation Ganga’ to bring them home through alternate routes via Romania, Poland, Hungary and the Slovak Republic.

But help awaits many who are located far away from the border posts and have no wherewithal to reach there. As per latest reports, so far only 4,000 Indians have been able to get past Ukraine’s borders while 16,000 are still stranded without food, water and basic amenities in bunkers, bomb shelters and metros.