90% Indians who study MBBS abroad fail to clear qualifiers in India: Union minister

New Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday triggered a massive controversy by claiming that "90 per cent of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India".

For the unversed, those who get a medical degree abroad, have to pass the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), to practise medicine in India.

Mr Joshi made the controversial comment in Belagavi, while briefing the media on the steps taken to evacuate students stranded in Ukraine.

Answering a question on why so many students from Karnataka are studying abroad and whether the high course fee in the state is the reason for the migration of students, he said: "Those (students) have returned (from Ukraine), 90% of them won't clear the entrance examinations. I'm not telling you this… I don't want to create a controversy over it or start a debate. So, all I want to say is that they have gone, may they be well."

Mr Joshi's comment comes as thousands of Indian students remain stranded in Ukraine, which is currently fighting a bitter war with invading troops of Russia.

The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, however, told Times of India that this is "not the right time to debate why students are moving out to study medicine".

Reacting to this, many have argued that India does not have enough medical seats to accommodate all deserving aspirants. They have also cited the poor doctor-patient ratio in the country, pointing out that without foreign university graduates who come back to practice, the situation would have been far worse.

Since Thursday, when the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia started, videos have been pouring in from students desperate to leave the country.

Seeking urgent help, the students are heard saying that they are not being allowed to board trains. They say they are being manhandled and physically thrown out of trains.

At the border, where many reached after walking miles in the sub-zero temperature, they are being made to wait for hours without food or water, the students have said.

Yesterday one of the students, a 21-year-old from Karnataka, died during Russian shelling in Kharkiv.

As the opposition criticism of the government sharpened over what it called a slow pace of evacuation, many on social media argued that the students were given timely warning by the government, but chose to disregard advice to evacuate.