Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday promised “safe career” to junior medical students who had returned from war-torn Ukraine offering them opportunity to pursue their courses in private medical colleges of Bengal on concessional rates.
Even as experts questioned the legality of the proposal Mamata said the 2nd year students (in Ukrainian colleges) could forgo oneyear’s seniority and join from 1st year.
“If a student wants to study in 1st year, we can facilitate that inmedical colleges in our state. In that case students would not lose ayear because in Ukraine they have six years’ course...” She also saidthat “if any student wants to continue classes in Ukraine, mygovernment will facilitate online classes and offline practicalclasses at private and state-run colleges.”
She also offered internship to the senior students in Government and private hospitals subject to the National Medical Commission’s clearance. Saying that the State Government had one-third seats reserved in private colleges,” Mamata said the students couldavail of that facility.
“All private medical colleges have one third seats reserved under thestate quota, where students may study at Government rates,” Mamata said, adding the students would get the education free as the Government would bear fifty per cent cost and the private collegeauthorities would pay remaining course fee under corporate socialresponsibility.
Mamata who met 391 medical students who had returned from Ukrainesaid that she would take up the matter with the NMC and assured “ifthey do not understand out point then we will definitely press for it… I will take you all with me to Delhi in that case to make your concerns heard.”
Mamata promised a similar concession for the engineering students too. The Chief Minister said she had deputed two senior IAS officer tocoordinate on the issue adding the “students of other states too willbe accommodated in the scheme subject to permission from the NMC.”
Experts however doubted the legality of Banerjee’s promise saying suchassurances could pose legal tangle for the Government. A senior doctorfrom a State-run medic al college wondered how the Ukraine-returned students could bypass the foreign medical graduate examination.
“Every year hundreds of such students appear for this exam where clearance level is very low ... may be 15-20 percent … in that casethe pass-outs who are still appearing for the exams will immediatelymove the court questioning the new move,” the doctor said.
He said the students who fail to find a place in Indiancolleges through NEET move out to other countries like Ukraine … “now if these students get an entry through backdoor on the pretext of awar or such extraordinary situation then it will open a legal.”