Relax rules for medical students returning from Ukraine: Varun Gandhi

New Delhi: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Sunday said that medical students returning from Ukraine should be structurally integrated into Indian institutions by relaxing rules, while suggesting that the NRI quota of medical colleges be utilised for them.

Underlining that the war in Ukraine has mentally broken the students, Gandhi said, "We have to accommodate these students in Indian institutions by relaxing rules."

In a tweet, Gandhi said on the one hand, the students have bitter memories of war and on other hand, their future hangs in balance.

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

"Many of them suffer from mental trauma, exacerbated by a disrupted education and poor job prospects back in India, while loans pile on. We need to structurally integrate them into our education system," Gandhi said while suggesting that the NRI quota in medical colleges could be utilised for such students.

He further said the integration of these students in medical education system will help in improving the medical system when the next pandemic comes.

Against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has said that foreign medical graduates with incomplete internships due to situations beyond their control like COVID-19 or war can finish the same in India.