The Kerala Foreign Medical Graduates Parents' Association (FMGPA) submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chairman of the National Medical Commission (NMC) demanding equal representation for both foreign and Indian medical graduates to practice in the country.

The NMC, on June 27, issued a notification outlining the eligibility criteria for MBBS students to practice in India and introduced the regulations for the newly introduced National Exit Test (NExT). In turn, the FMGPA, in its memorandum, has urged that since the regulations are unfamiliar to Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs), the government should ensure equal representation, reports The New Indian Express.

"We urge the NMC to instruct relevant authorities to conduct mock tests and offer guidance to the students, enabling them to confidently prepare for the NExT exam," said C Jomy Joseph, President of the association, which consists of parents of medical students who were studying in China and returned to India during the pandemic.

The FMGPA also demanded that the same system be followed for students who retake the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), the existing exam for FMGs to obtain a license to practice in India. "A majority of FMGs are preparing to retake the exam. We have requested the NMC to make suitable arrangements for those students to continue with the previous mode of eligibility test," said AR Rajesh, Secretary of the association, as per TNIE.