The Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) belonging to the Jammu & Kashmir union territory raised a request to the Education, Health & Medical Education Minister Sakina Itoo and Secretary of Health & Medical Education Syed Abid Rasheed Shah to allot exam centres in Srinagar for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) 2025.
FMGs are Indian citizens who travel abroad to pursue MBBS. If they wish to return and practice in India, they are required to clear the FMGE exam compulsorily.
While the exam is held twice a year, once in January and the second time in December, the December 2024 exam is scheduled to be held on January 12, 2025. The exam is being conducted in around 60 centres across India.
However, the FMGs of J&K raise issues like difficulties in accessibility to exam centres in their territory. As per the official information, only two exam centres are allotted in Jammu, tentatively — Jammu and Samba.
Speaking on this issue, Dr Momin Khan, State Vice-President of AIl India Medical Students' Association (AIMSA) JK & State President of All India Student Union (AISU), said, "We have to travel long distances to Jammu to appear for the FMGE exam as it is the only exam centre."
"Besides this, many FMGs are allotted exam centres in Delhi, making it inconvenient for the candidates," Khan remarked, adding that in 2023, when he appeared for the exam, many of his peers had to travel to Delhi to attempt the exam.
Additionally, financial burdens and logistical concerns such as accommodation and travel expenses were a few inconveniences Khan highlighted. Peak winters and extreme weather conditions in both union territories are an additional disadvantage.
Slots fill up
Another important issue raised by the FMGs is the swift filling of slots for the exam. The slots for the exam are filled on a first-come, first-serve basis. Also, according to the policy of the National Board of Examinations (NBE), candidates will be randomly allotted one city out of four mentioned by the candidates. Due to this, many fail to get to the nearest centres.
Sharing his plight, an FMG who is pursuing an internship in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dr Mir Millad, said, "Majority of the students are from the Kashmir division; however, they are allotted distant centres. Although there is a centre in Jammu, seats fill up quickly. Therefore, we have to spend time and energy travelling to another state."
"To take the edge of our challenges, we would like to draw attention to this issue and attempt to establish an FMGE exam centre in the Kashmir division as well," he appealed.
Another candidate, on condition of anonymity, told EdexLive, "The existing centre in Jammu lacks the capacity to accommodate the large number of FMGE examinees, resulting in a dire need for additional centres in the region."
Why is Srinagar lacking an exam centre?
It is learnt that over two years ago, there was an exam centre in Srinagar. However, due to the alleged misconduct of candidates in the exam, the NMC has decided to cancel the exam centre, hinted Dr Wasim Khan, Founder, J&K Medical Students' Association.
Further, he told EdexLive, "The NBE has increased the number of FMGE exam centres, but Srinagar is not listed as one of them. The NBE must consider the demands of Kashmiri students and establish an FMGE centre in Srinagar to alleviate their hardships and challenges, such as long-distance travel, financial burden, and stress."
Meanwhile, Momin Khan is considering meeting with the state's education minister ahead of the test to discuss his concerns on the distribution of testing locations in Srinagar.
