The National Medical Commission (NMC) has identified 972 students who went abroad to study MBBS without obtaining the required eligibility certificate. The commission has granted a 10-day window for these students to submit their certificate applications. The NMC emphasizes that failure to address this deficiency within the specified timeframe will result in the rejection of their applications. The commission has also released a list of pending applications, including students’ names, fathers’ names, and application numbers.
The NMC’s official notice states, “It is observed that applicants whose name is mentioned in Annexure-I have proceeded abroad without obtaining an eligibility certificate. Therefore, the board has decided to give 10 days to all such applicants (Annexure-I) to submit their applications in the eligibility portal of NMC. In case the applicants whose name is mentioned in Annexure-I do not fulfill the deficiency or do not submit the applications within 10 days from the date of publication of this notice, the applications will be summarily rejected.”
In October, the NMC invited applications for the FMGE 2023 eligibility certificate. A review of the applications was conducted by the Ethics and Medical Registration Board (EMRB) of NMC, which identified certain deficiencies.
The commission drew attention to the guidelines of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956, stipulating that a person, after a specified date, must obtain an eligibility certificate for enrolling in a medical institution in a foreign country.Â
“A person who is a citizen of India shall not, after such date as may be specified by the Central Government under sub-section (3), be eligible to get admission to obtain medical qualification granted by any medical institution in any foreign country without obtaining an eligibility certificate issued to him by the Council. In case any such person obtains such qualification without obtaining such eligibility certificate, he shall not be eligible to appear in the screening test,” it specified.
The NMC further mentioned that the necessity for an eligibility certificate to pursue studies abroad was introduced after the announcement of the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) UG 2019 results. Additionally, it has been mandated that both Indian and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) students must qualify in the NEET examination to be eligible for admission to MBBS programs in foreign institutions.
