West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accommodate Indian medical students who have returned from war-hit Ukraine, in colleges across the country.

In a letter to PM Modi, Banerjee suggested that students who have returned from Ukraine should be allowed to undergo internships in government medical colleges.

“As medical education in the country is regulated by the National Medical Commission (NMC), the following suggestions are being placed for your kind urgent consideration. As per the current guidelines of NMC, students who are eligible for the internship, will be allowed to undergo internships in government medical colleges of the State and they will also be paid the stipend at par with the other candidates,” she said in the letter.

Banerjee further said that for other students in different years of their studies, they may be allowed to get admitted at the equivalent level in the private medical colleges against the existing seats and these colleges may be allowed to increase an equivalent number of seats to accommodate these students.

NEET impact

The present stipulations of the NMC mandate that only those students who qualify for the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET-UG) would get admission into medical colleges. “Many of the students who have returned from Ukraine do not meet this requirement. It is requested that the relevant guidelines may be relaxed as a very special case to accommodate these students,” she said in the letter.

She further said that the private medical colleges of the State have agreed to accommodate these students at State quota fees. West Bengal government has also decided to extend financial assistance to these students to meet expenses on their course fees.

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