The Foreign Medical Students Andhra Pradesh wing members of All India Medical Students Association staging a protest at NTR Health University in Vijayawada on Tuesday.
| Photo Credit: K.V.S. GIRI
After their protest demanding solutions to several issues including permanent registrations outside the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council’s Registrar’s office in Vijayawada on January 6 yielded a little, Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) gathered outside Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences again on Tuesday, demanding a reply from the Registrar.
The FMGs said that they were assured by the Registrar of a response within three days. They pointed out that more than 20 days have passed and they were yet to receive a clarification from the official. After waiting for 10 days, the All India Medical Students’ Association’s Foreign Medical Students’ wing submitted a representation to the Registrar on January 17 with nine demands.
Some of the demands are issuance of Permanent Registrations to the two batches who completed their internships in May 2024 and November 2024, compliance with National Medical Commission (NMC)‘s notification of June 19, 2024 that said one-year internships should be allotted to those who have valid compensatory certificates from their parent universities, issuance of Provisional Registrations to interns, appointment of a chairman and council members.
With no response from the APMC too on the issues, around 100 FMGs came to the city on Tuesday, seeking clarification. The FMGs, who did not want to be named, said they were told that the Registrar was on leave.
“Later, we went to the TDP office in Mangalagiri and sought an appointment with the Chief Minister,” said an FMG.
Another FMG asked, “Whenever we questioned the APMC about the delay, we were told that they needed a clarification from the NMC. We have been receiving the same response since June 2024. Why did not they clarify before issuing internship allotment letters to us in May 2023?”
The FMGs said even those who did their final year of studies offline have been allotted two and three years of internship, ‘in contradiction with the NMC rules’.
Meanwhile, the APMC released a press note in response to their Tuesday’s protest stating that some FMGs, undergoing internships, have ‘refused to comply with NMC instructions of November 22, 2023, and submitted representations requesting acceptance of compensation letters’.
The note added that since the letters lacked details to verify their compensation, their request for Permanent Registrations (PRs) cannot be considered by the APMC.
Citing a NMC notification issued on November 19, 2024, the APMC, in the press note, said it was verifying the degrees of FMGs through the Indian Embassies concerned before granting PRs and the process is under way.
Published – January 29, 2025 05:58 am IST
