New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday suggested that the Center create a web portal containing details of foreign universities where the affected students can take up further studies as per the government’s academic mobility program, to help medical students who have returned from Ukraine due to the war with Russia. A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia said there should be a transparent system and the web portal should specify the number of seats available in alternate foreign universities and the full details of fees from which students can complete their courses.
At the beginning of the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said he was not taking any adverse stand and requested the government to be given time to take directions on the suggestions of the bench. The bench fixed September 23 for the next hearing in the matter. The Supreme Court is hearing various petitions filed by students who are first to fourth-year medical students in foreign medical colleges or universities.
Such students are seeking transfer to medical colleges in India. The hopes of Indian medical students who returned from Ukraine were dealt a blow on Thursday when the central government informed the Supreme Court that in the absence of provisions of law, those students cannot be accommodated in Indian medical colleges.
The Central Government in an affidavit said that as of now, not a single foreign medical student has been allowed to be transferred or accommodated by the National Medical Commission (NMC) in any Indian Medical Institute/University.
The Center, however, said that in order to assist and support students who could not complete their MBBS in Ukraine, the NMC in consultation with the Ministry of External Affairs issued a public notice on September 6, indicating that the commission is the core of Ukraine. Will accept certificates from students who have completed their remaining courses in other countries with the permission of the institution.
