Bengal CM gives enrolment hope to students back from Ukraine

At an event in Kolkata to interact with 391 Bengal students, who fled the east European country which is in the middle of a military conflict with Russia, she informed that she wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urging him to relax regulations under National Medical Commission (NMC) for students who were forced to leave Ukraine due to imminent danger and threat to their lives. She further informed that her government will provide internships for medical students at state-run medical colleges as well as an allowance. The CM said the students studying in Ukraine would be enrolled in private medical colleges across the state, subject to clearance from the NMC.

Speaking at the event at Kolkata’s Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the CM said, “The state holds a one-third quota of seats at private medical colleges. The Ukraine returnees would be admitted under that quota. They need not bear any additional expense for this. The additional cost will be borne by the state government and medical college authorities. It will enable these students to study at private medical colleges at the cost of government medical colleges.”

She also assured steps to ensure that their academic year isn’t wasted. In her letter to the PM, Banerjee wrote, “As per the current guidelines of NMC, students who are eligible for the internship will be allowed to undergo the internship in government medical colleges of the state and they will be also paid the stipend at par with the other candidates.”

“For other students in different years of their studies, they may be allowed to get admitted at the equivalent level in the private medical colleges against the existing seats and these medical colleges may be allowed to increase the equivalent number of seats for accommodating these students,” the CM wrote.

“The present stipulations of the MC mandate that only those students who qualify the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET-UG) can only get admission into the medical colleges. Many of the students who have returned from Ukraine do not meet this requirement. It is requested that the relevant guidelines may be relaxed as a very special case to accommodate these students,”Banerjee stated further in her letter.

She informed the PM that private medical colleges in the state have agreed to accommodate these students at state quota fees.

With the student returnees citing financial crunch, the CM said all possible arrangements will be made to ensure that they can continue with their studies unhindered. She said her government could arrange offline classes for students who left Ukraine after completing the first, second and third year of their medical courses. She added that special arrangements could also be made for first-year students who are willing to pursue their courses afresh.