SurferSpeak | UK accused of bias

Surfers are livid with UK Govt having dumped Indian docs facing joblessness.

We carried an article on how 3,000 doctors from India, who had dreams of making a career in United Kingdom, had been left in the dark and were now without any jobs.

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The story told us how out of nearly 4,000 Asian doctors who came to the UK recently, 3,000 from India and 800 from Pakistan, a majority is said to be struggling.

At last count, there were over 6,000 overseas doctors who had come to Britain in the past five years in response to calls by the National Health Service (NHS) for foreign medical staff.

They hoped to find jobs after passing the Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board Test (PLAB) - a mandatory requirement for all immigrant doctors. But most of them are still unemployed, it said.

The story had touched a raw chord as surfers could easily identify with their plight. Murder most foul - our surfers seem to say.

They are irate that the British Government chose to conduct exams (for which the medics had to pay money) and then dumped them.

They hinted at racism as the British Government was deliberately trying to protect jobs.

To see qualified doctors queuing before Sri Mahalakshmi Temple in East London for free meals can be quite tough. If doctors face such treatment, think of others.

Praneeth from Hyderabad felt rich nations were simply earning money from poor people.

"This is outrageous on the part of a developed nation. I request one and all, including media, to highlight this fact (kind of treatment we get and of course about being jobless) and encourage people not to write such exams without being guaranteed jobs."

Sandeep Shetty from New Delhi was utterly depressed to read this news.

"Why doesn't Indian Medical Association or the Government do some thing? Why doesn't the Indian government protest and discourage young Indian doctors from appearing to this Professional and Linguistic Assessment Board Test (PLAB) exam? This exam is a great source of income for General Medical Council. If there are no jobs for Indians then why are those people conducting them?" he asked.

He wondered why couldn't thousands of rich British Indians help these young Indians financially? Basically, Indians have no unity and are a selfish lot, he felt.

He further said that the Indian media should play a more proactive role in preventing such exploitation. "Why don't we Indians advertise in national newspapers and prevent our young doctors from taking loan for such exams?" he questioned.

Iyer from London drew a parallel between these doctors and the treatment meted out to dentists in European Union countries. He was of the opinion that dentists, in particular, were very shabbily treated in these countries.

Here's how he put it.

"There is a similar but often untold story about Indian dentists who are better educated than many EU counterparts but end up cleaning the dental clinics in UK when they are forced to survive as dental nurses.

The International Qualification Exam (IQE) is costlier and more crooked than the PLAB. The examiners have ulterior motives in failing candidates who have years of experiences based on clearly questionable decisions (they can't be questioned in reality though).

However, Polish dentists, who can hardly understand English, are given funds to set-up their own clinics.

Would Indian dentists understand these issues and stop wasting their money on it?

PTK from Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, was of the opinion that the Government should just bring back these doctors.

Reason? "Unlike other developed countries, the Indian Government takes the major expenditure for educating a doctor (also for engineers)," he said.

However, Mukhtar Ali Naqvi from Orlando, USA, had rather radical views on the topic. He felt that the British Government ought to be punished for the crime.

"They must know that the aggrieved country may take extreme measures. I urge India to launch a full-fledged invasion on Britain. After the English surrender they must be forced to employ all Indian doctors. They must remain on the payrolls and should not be asked to work.

Their salary must be deposited with their accounts in the bank. It should be double than that of English doctors. The British must know that India is now a superpower and can destroy their country. Indian doctors must be paid highest salary without any work."

Clearly, British Government will have to do a lot of explanation.