Over 200 frustrated Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) stormed the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council (APMC) office in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, today, January 6, demanding the issuance of their permanent registration (PR). It is learnt that the FMGs completed their internship in June 2024 and have been urging for their PR since then.
Reacting to the protest, APMC Registrar Dr I Ramesh told EdexLive over a call that he is flying to Delhi to visit the National Medical Commission (NMC) office regarding concerns of the FMGs.
"I'm flying to Delhi early in the morning tomorrow (January 7) along with a hard copy of the FMGs' demands, which I will share with the NMC," he informed.
Today's protest is the third demonstration by foreign medical students urging the council to address their concerns.
"The main problem is that Indian medical students (IMGs) and FMGs are treated differently. While FMGs from other states, who pursued their education from the same parent university, or even other countries for that matter, have received their PR, in AP, our certificates are on hold," stated an FMG from Kyrgyz Russian Slavic University, on the condition of anonymity.
"We are being informed that we need to complete a three-year internship after completing a one-year internship. That's a loss of two years; we are mentally afflicted and are suffering due to this biased treatment," the agonised FMG shared.
Financial difficulties would also see a rise because the FMGs are expected to finish a three-year internship without receiving a stipend.
It is learnt that there are around 150 students who were allotted one-year internships, and 300 who were allotted two-year internships who are yet to receive their PR. "Even though the students have completed their internships, they have been instructed to finish three years of internships. We arrived at the APMC office with proofs of documents of peers who were given PR in other states," said the FMG.
Another FMGE, Dr Bhanu Reddy, hinted that the council had made a three-year internship mandatory for those who attended online classes for more than 18 months.
To recall, due to the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war, FMGs were given the liberty to attend online classes, but with the condition of a one-year compulsory internship.
"I think the APMC is following the rule of compulsory internship of three years who attended online classes for over 18 months, two years internships for attending online classes for 12 to 18 months, and one-year internship for attending online classes for zero to six or 12 months," he speculated.
Meeting with registrar
Prakash further disclosed that the registrar and a delegation of ten students held a discussion and the FMGs disclosed that they were asked to submit their demands in writing.
According to the demands letter EdexLive has access to, the demands are:
1. Acceptance of a one-year internship
2. Accept the China internship according to 30.07.2020 notice
3. Accept the Philippines internship
4. Accept compensation certificates given by respective universities under NMC rules for one academic year
5. Cancel affidavits and give allotments for one-year
6. Issue PR to all people who have completed a one-year internship in AP
"If all these following points are not acceptable - CONDUCT OFFLINE COUNSELLING," the letter added.
Regarding demand number five, the FMGs revealed that a few of them were forced to submit an affidavit accepting a three-year internship without a stipend. "If we fail to do so, we will not be allotted internships," grieved an FMG.
When EdexLive asked the registrar about the delay in issuance of PR, he told EdexLive, "Submission of fake certificates is already being reported in Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, and other states. Therefore, NMC instructed us not to issue PR certificates without proper verification."
"The Indian High Commission has all of their certifications. After checking with the parent university, the commission will report back. which will be followed by the issuance of certificates," he clarified, adding that this was discussed with the FMGs as well.
