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Future of Ukraine evacuees in focus as Parliament resumes
Speaking during the Zero Hour, YSRCP leader Vijaysai Reddy said while the Centre’s efforts in evacuating stranded-Indians from Ukraine should be applauded, it is concerning that more than 20,000 of the evacuees were students, now facing the agony of disruption in their medical careers.
The second half of the Budget session commenced on Monday with Rajya Sabha MPs urging the Centre to adopt measures to secure the future of medical students who recently returned from Ukraine to India.
Speaking during the Zero Hour in the Upper House, YSRCP leader Vijaysai Reddy said while the Centre’s efforts in evacuating stranded-Indians from Ukraine should be applauded, it is concerning that more than 20,000 of the evacuees were students pursuing medical education in that country, who are now facing disruptions in their career.
“Apart from the trauma of escaping war-like conditions, these students are facing the agony of disruption in their medical careers. The situation in Ukraine continues to remain unsafe with no certainty of normalcy in the near future and hence, Indian students cannot be expected to return to Ukraine to resume their studies,” he said.
In such unprecedented circumstances, immediate steps should be taken on “humanitarian grounds to accommodate such students within Indian medical universities as an exceptional case”, Reddy said.
“When an ongoing medical college in India is shut down, we have a proper procedure through which students are appropriately dispersed into other medical schools in India. A special transfer procedure, along similar lines, can also be formulated for medical students returning from Ukraine on a temporary basis until it becomes safe for them to return to Ukraine,” he added.
K Ravindra Kumar of Telugu Desam Party said Ukraine’s ongoing military tension with Russia has put a question mark on the future of students who were pursuing education in Ukraine.
“The war between Russia and Ukraine is not likely to come to an end in the near future. Therefore, I urge the government to take necessary steps after consulting with the stakeholders, including the National Medical Commission to absorb all the students who have returned from Ukraine,” he told the House.
Biju Janata Dal’s Amar Patnaik and Congress’s KC Venugopal also raised similar concerns over the issue.
Patnaik said the Union government should take into consideration suggestions by Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, to increase medical seats by 2% to 5% in all private and government medical colleges and also take care of fifth-year students to ensure their education is not compromised.
Trinamool Congress leader Nadimul Haque stressed on the need to revisit medical education in the country. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has exposed the “inefficiency plaguing the Indian medical education system” as the sheer number of Indian students pursuing medical education abroad has become apparent, he said.
Medical education in India is “unaffordable and competitive”, forcing aspirants from lower- and middle-income families to shift to countries where the course is cheaper and less competitive, he said.
“Fees charged in India, on an average, range from ₹1,400,000 in government colleges to about ₹6,000,000 to ₹7,000,000 in private colleges,” he said.
Meanwhile, in Lok Sabha, the Congress and TMC, among other opposition parties, demanded the restoration of statehood in Jammu & Kashmir, during a debate on the budget for the Union territory.
Congress leader Manish Tewari said the law and order situation in Jammu & Kashmir is a cause of concern, referring to the recent killing of civilians. While finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman showed “extremely noble sentiments” for the region, “the ground realities are different”, he said.
“Since April 2020, the situation in eastern Ladakh is extremely sensitive. The Chinese army has been occupying those lands which India considers its own. The situation has become more complex now since 2020 because of factors such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Moscow and the agreement between Russia and China on February 4. All this impacts the border areas of India,” he said.
Union minister Jitendra Singh, however, dared the Congress to announce in Lok Sabha that it would restore Article 370 in Jammu & Kashmir if it comes to power.
“Does the Congress party have the courage to say that it will restore Article 370 after coming to power...You don’t say that. You want to beat about the bush and want to have it both ways,” he said.
