Relax rules for medical students from Ukraine, their future hangs in balance, says Varun Gandhi

The BJP MP stated that medical students returning from Ukraine should be structurally integrated into Indian institutions, emphasising that the conflict in Ukraine has left many students psychologically broken.

BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Sunday urged the Centre to relax rules for returning medical students from war-torn Ukraine, suggesting that the NRI quota in medical colleges be used for them. The BJP MP stated that medical students returning from Ukraine should be structurally integrated into Indian institutions, emphasising that the conflict in Ukraine has left many students psychologically broken. Gandhi stated on Twitter that, on the one hand, the students have painful memories of war and, on the other hand, their future is in jeopardy.

"Over 20,000 Indian students are in the process of being evacuated from Ukraine. For many of them, an education stint in Ukraine meant spending Rs 15-30 lakhs in savings to gain education at a college that has most likely been destroyed by now," Gandhi said in a Hindi tweet.

"Many of them are suffering from mental trauma, which has been exacerbated by a disrupted education and poor job prospects in India, while debts mount. We must structurally incorporate them into our educational system," in another tweet, he stated.

He went on to say that integrating these students into the medical education system will aid in the improvement of the medical system when the next pandemic strikes.

Several Indian students have been returned to India in recent weeks from Ukraine, where Russia has stepped up its military offensive. In light of the ongoing unrest in Ukraine, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has stated that foreign medical graduates who have not completed their internships due to circumstances beyond their control, such as COVID-19 or war, can complete them in India.