Centre's stand in SC over medicos from Ukraine pains them: Stalin to Modi

Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accommodate medical students who had to return from Ukraine in domestic private colleges by creating additional seats as a one-time measure.

Pointing to the Centre apprising the Supreme Court that Indian medical students who returned from Ukraine cannot be accommodated in medical colleges within the country, Stalin said this stand has anguished aspirants.

Writing to Modi, Stalin said the Lok Sabha Committee on External Affairs had recommended that the students who returned from Ukraine can be accommodated in medical colleges within the country and it led to hope among students.

"But the contrary stand taken by the Union government has dashed the hopes of these students. This needs to be reconsidered, " he said.

If accommodating such students in government medical colleges is considered difficult, Stalin requested Modi that they can be accommodated in private colleges by creating additional seats as a one-time measure.

"Since these students sought education in Ukraine due to their inability to pay the higher fees in private medical colleges in India, a special dispensation may be considered in the form of a comparable fee structure in private medical colleges in India similar to the fees paid by the students abroad," he said.

This would allow the affected students to continue their education paying the same level of fees, he said.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Minister also requested the Union Ministries of External Affairs and Health to actively identify colleges and universities abroad, suitable for these medical students under the academic mobility program.

"This process of identifying appropriate colleges and accommodating our students needs to be centrally coordinated rather than leaving it to individual students to scout for colleges in various countries." "An appropriate framework may kindly be put in place for this process. Considering that the students have already lost one year of their education, I request your urgent intervention in this regard," Stalin urged Modi.