If the National Medical Council turns down the request, she said, she will go to Delhi along with the students to speak to the officials.
Kolkata: In an interaction with the students who returned to West Bengal from the war-torn Ukraine, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said she will soon have a conversation with the National Medical Commission (NMC) and urge the body to allow medical students of the second to sixth years to complete their study in the state’s private universities.
If the NMC turns down the request, she said, she will go to Delhi along with the students to speak to the officials. Talking about the engineering students, Banerjee said there is enough space in West Bengal and all those who returned will be accommodated. The chief minister also assured that her government will ensure they do not have to pay high fees.
Explaining her assurance to the students, Banerjee said all private medical colleges have one-third seats reserved under the state quota and students can study in those seats at government rates. She added that no student will have to pay for the courses as half of it would be borne by the state government while the other half will be taken care of by the private medical colleges under corporate social responsibility.
Further making things smoother, Banerjee said, “Medical interns will be allowed to work at state-run medical colleges and offered a monthly stipend. We can also arrange education for students who wish to begin from the first year. That way nobody will lose a year because in Ukraine it takes six years but in India it takes five years to become a doctor.”
She also assured that the West Bengal government will make arrangements for those who wish to attend online classes of Ukraine universities and help them with offline practical classes at “private and government colleges”.
Since the war began in Ukraine, around 391 students of West Bengal have returned home among thousands of others in the country.
