Persecuted Minorities Migrated from Pak to practice India. NMC plans Exam
The National Medical Commission (NMC) is planning for an exam to allow persecuted minorities who migrated from Pakistan to practice medicine in India.
The National Medical Commission (NMC) has assembled a team of specialists to develop criteria for a proposed exam that would grant permanent registration for practising medicine in India to medical graduates from Pakistan’s persecuted minorities who have immigrated and obtained Indian citizenship.
Many doctors who have migrated from Pakistan but are unable to legally practise medicine in India see this action as a beacon of hope.
CITIZENSHIP APPLICATIONS
Numerous members of the minority Hindu, Sikh, Jain, and Christian groups have long sought citizenship in India after migrating from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
During the winter session of 2021, the Ministry of Home Affairs told Parliament that 3,117 out of 8,244 non-Muslim citizenship applications from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan had been approved.
It is noteworthy that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), passed by Parliament in 2019, makes it easier to award Indian citizenship to the persecuted non-Muslim minorities of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
The law has not yet been put into effect, nevertheless, because the CAA’s guidelines have not yet been developed.
WORD FROM MINORITY GROUPS IN THE MEDICAL SERVICE
Dr. LN Jangid, 49, who moved to Jodhpur from Umerkot, Pakistan, in 2004, has been living there and working as a doctor’s assistant at a private clinic. In 2019, he received Indian citizenship.
Despite earning his MBBS from Jinnah Sindh Medical University in Karachi, his current position requires him to record patient histories, take their blood pressure, and explain the dosages of the medications the doctor has ordered.
“I feel very disappointed while working as a medical assistant. I keep going back to my days in Pakistan when I was working as a doctor and would see patients and prescribe medicine,” Jangid told PTI.
“I feel that I have failed to live my dream of serving patients,” he added.
Not just Jangid, but many others with medical degrees who immigrated from Pakistan are also obliged to work odd jobs in India.
WHAT NMC SAID ABOUT FORMING AN EXPERT COMMITTEE
On June 20, the National Medical Commission (NMC) released a notification regarding the formation of the Group of Experts:
“It is hereby stated that Ministry of Health through its holistic endeavour decided that appropriate guidelines/regulations may be framed to give effect to the decision of conducting proposed examination for persecuted minorities migrating from Pakistan under the direct supervision of National Medical Commission to test their knowledge of modern medicine and granting permanent registration to practice medicine in India,” the NMC notification stated.
ON THE MATTER OF CLEARING FMGE
Dr. Nakhat Singh Sodha (54), a maintenance supervisor at a private hospital in Jodhpur who immigrated to India from Sindh in Pakistan in 2005, said he would require nine to ten months to prepare for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) exam
In 1994, he received his degree from Karachi’s Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences (LUMHS).
“I graduated over two decades ago. I don’t understand how I would be able to appear for a qualifying exam once more. We will need at least nine to 10 months of preparation if we are to crack the FMGE exam,” he said.
“While doing so, we won’t be able to continue with our work and who would feed our family?” he asked.
“It would be great if the government brings a policy to give us permanent registration to work as doctors,” he added.
Only after passing the FMGE can Indians with medical degrees from foreign universities practise in India.
However, postgraduate degrees from five English-speaking nations — the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand — are acknowledged in India and they do not need to stand for the exam.
INDIAN STUDENTS WARNED NOT TO ENROLL IN PAKISTAN COLLEGES
The NMC had warned Indian students not to enrol themselves in any colleges or educational institutions in Pakistan in a public notice on April 28.
“All concerned are advised not to travel to Pakistan for pursuing medical education,” the notification had stated.
“Any Indian national/overseas citizen of India who intends to take admission in MBBS/BDS or equivalent medical course in any medical college of Pakistan shall not be eligible for appearing in FMGE or seeking employment in India on the basis of educational qualifications (in any subject) acquired in Pakistan except those who had joined Pakistan degree colleges/institutions before December 2018 or later after obtaining security clearance from MHA till date,” the public notice issued on April 28 read.
However, migrants and their children who received citizenship from India and went on to get a medical degree or higher study in Pakistan would still be eligible to take the FMGE/NEXT and apply for jobs in India after receiving security clearance from MHA, it had been stated.
WHAT THE GROUP OF EXPERTS IS SUPPOSED TO DO NOW
The suggested Terms of Reference of the five-member Group of Experts established by NMC is to provide a roadmap for giving permanent registration to minority migrants who are now Indian citizens in order for them to practise medicine in India.
The group of experts is also required to verify the supplied papers, choose the manner and mode of the special examination to be held by the NMC, and collect demographic, academic, and work-related information about the candidate, if applicable.
“Once the guidelines are framed, the candidates will be asked to register on a portal for appearing in the proposed exam,” an official source said.
