The Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) in Rajasthan launched a strike on Wednesday, April 12, against the limited number of counselling seats for the mandatory Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI) by the state government.
All India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) had also called for the protest regarding the same.
As per the guidelines by NMC (National Medical Commission), students who have completed their MBBS degree from foreign medical universities are required to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) which allows them to practice medicine in India. Students who qualify for the exam are then required to undergo a mandatory medical internship.
However, FMGs in Rajasthan complained that even though 1,365 students qualified for the FMGE this year, the counselling was done only for 399 seats.
“The centre had allocated about 2000 seats for FMGs in Rajasthan but counselling was done for only 399 seats recently. As the NMC made medical internships for the FMGs compulsory for two years instead of one, more students have applied for the exam. Some students who had finished one year of their internship before the NMC notice last year applied again this year,” explained Shahroz Khan Sherry, a foreign medical graduate from Nantong Medical University, China.
The FMGE results have been out for more than two months. The students say they have approached the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) multiple times following the result but did not get any response.
“This is the first time we have launched a strike after urging the DME for months. Many foreign medical graduates have gathered to put forward our demands and concerns. As many as 966 FMGs are still waiting for the counselling process despite having qualified for the exam. None of the other states is giving seats to non-domicile graduates. We cannot even appear for the exam again after qualifying,” said Dr Rakesh Gurjar, MBBS graduate from Caspian International School of Medicine, Kazakhstan.
The medical graduates have also written a letter to the Directorate of Medical Education, Rajasthan to take necessary actions and allow them to do internships at medical colleges in Rajasthan.
