Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: July 13, 2022 at 19:28 IST
The Supreme Court has been petitioned for direction to frame rules for the migration of Indian medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Indian Medical Colleges during the same academic year.
Students who were evacuated filed the plea, asking the court’s urgent indulgence in light of the extraordinary circumstances that have arisen in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war crisis and have seriously hampered their studies. Due to the unfortunate events in Ukraine, many students had to leave, which obviously have brought a stand-still to their education.
According to the petition submitted through Advocate Ashwarya Sinha, the education of approximately 14,000 evacuated Indian students has come to a complete halt because their careers are in jeopardy and because the fundamental rights guaranteed by Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Indian Constitution are now illusory.
The advocate added that the evacuated students, including the petitioners in this case, are experiencing extreme mental agony and suffering because their futures are in ambiguity and their education has essentially come to a standstill since February 2022, with no obvious signs of the war-torn country’s peace returning.
So, in accordance with Section 45 of the National Medical Commission Act of 2019, the petitioners have also asked the NMC to set guidelines and SOPs for the migration of the Indian medical students who have been evacuated from Ukraine to Indian Medical Colleges during the same academic year.
The petition also sought that the Centre issue the directives required by Section 46 of the National Medical Commission Act of 2019 and that the respondents issue the proper directives necessary to ensure that the Indian students evacuated from Ukraine can continue their medical education with the necessary infrastructural, academic, and financial support.
In light of the extraordinary circumstances, resulting from the ongoing war in Ukraine, the petition also sought to establish guidelines by using the power granted by Article 142 of the Indian Constitution for safeguarding the interests of the evacuated students and their migration to Indian Medical Colleges.