#saveukrainefmgs: 20K Ukraine-return students launch online campaign to save career

Amaravati: Ukraine returned medical students have launched an online campaign to reach out to the government for saving their careers. More than 1500 medical students from both Telugu states returned from Ukraine after the war broke out. While a few students are attending online classes, the majority of them hope to return and continue their education.

"We have survived a war. Our new semester is about to start in September. We have no idea how to go about it. Please take a decision and save our future", says a medical student who returned from Ukraine. The students have started the hashtag #saveukrainefmgs, hoping to reach out to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. About 20,000 medical students from India have started a social media campaign to raise their issues.

"Why are we ignored? We have more than 600 medical colleges in India. The government of India is unable to allocate seats to us. Many universities in Ukraine offer both online and offline classes. Students can return only when the government allows it. Further, universities do not guarantee the safety of students. What can we do in such a situation? We have decided to take up this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi", said a medical student from Chittoor.

Students should clear qualifying exams?

"The possibility of absorbing Ukraine returning students in local medical colleges can only be done after clearing qualifying exams", Union minister of state for health and family welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar, told Lok Sabha. She said that the students will have to comply with Screening Test Regulations, 2002, or Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021. "There are no such provisions in the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 and the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 to accommodate or transfer medical students from any foreign medical institutes to Indian medical colleges", said the Union Minister.

Meanwhile, Committee on External Affairs (2021-2022), in its fifteenth report to the Lok Sabha has recommended that Ukraine return medical students be accommodated in the Indian medical colleges to complete their education.

Parents worry about their children's future

Six months after the return of the students, parents are under stress about their children's future. Parents' Association of Ukraine MBBS Students (PAUMS) has recently submitted their demands to the higher officials.

"They suggested that the students should be accommodated in private medical colleges. But the majority of the families are from middle-class backgrounds. We chose to send our children to Ukraine because it costs Rs 4-5 lakh. Now, if the students are given accommodation in private colleges, we are not in a situation to afford it", said a parent, whose daughter is pursuing MBBS at Zaporizhzhia State Medical University.