Dr A S Bhatia
After passing my twelfth examination in the year of 1983, wherein I secured eighty four percent marks in the state board examination. These marks were considered to be very high in that era. But even at that time, when Dr Farooq Addullah took over as chief minister after the death of his father and the then most powerful leader Sheikh Abdullah, of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, my mother, a teacher by profession was told by her colleagues to go to Srinagar and meet chief minister, as there were alleged scandals in the selection procedures for the prestigious MBBS seats!. My mother, Surinder Kaur , a Pakistani refugee from Mirpur and a graduate from covent school Kanpur , UP and a national badminton player , took me along with her and proceeded towards Kashmir in 1983, with the hope to meet the people at the helm of affairs concerned with selection procedure for MBBS . We took shelter in a Gurudwara situated at Lal Chowk Srinagar! It was in the Gurudwara Sahib that my mother narrated her story of her child having secured the top rank in the board examination and told them that now she is here to see that her child is not left in the selection to MBBS, which was the made by the state competent authority! No NEET based examination was in vogue in those days and it is alleged that selections were made at the whims of persons in power! The Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee met in the Gurudwara sahib and patiently listened to my mother, I as a very young boy was sitting in the corner carefully watching, what was going on there! I could see the sparkle on the face of my mother, a Chandi Mata , as was hungry lioness to protect her cubs ! The memory is still alive in my subconscious brain!
The very next day a very prominent businessman of Kashmir, Mr Oberoi, considered to be a close aide of the Chief Minister, was called by the Prabanthank Committee and was explained the matter. A meeting was arranged with the then Chief Minister, Farooq Abdullah at Gupkar Road Srinagar, in his Janta Durbar!. Dr Abdullah was very kind enough to hear my mother’s narration, but at the end of conversation he blatantly told her that your son has secured high marks in Board examination but he will be selected only if he fairs good in my selection procedure! At this my mother roared, “Mr. Chief Minister, Board examination is also owned by your Government, either you disown your examination system or otherwise consider the merit of my son!” I could see Abdullah answerless! And when the selection list was declared for the session 1983-84, my name figured in the selected students to pursue the prestigious MBBS course! There were celebrations in the home and my mother was more crying than smiling! As when she was leaving for Srinagar to meet the Chief Minister, one of our relations had sarcastically told my father , “tell your wife to take a sofa , instead of getting a seat !” and that venomous laugh trailed her till the selection list was declared! I was fortunate to get MBBS in my home town and that too free of cost! Thanks to the efforts of my ever fighting mother, a teacher by profession!
But with the change of time, the medical education has become a well flourishing business in India and many top ranking politicians got involved in opening medical college directly or indirectly in this country. It was surprising to note that a Government Medical College used to get permission from erstwhile Medical Council of India for only fifty to sixty seats, whereas as private colleges were allotted hundred fifty to two hundred seats ! And the scam turned out to be huge scandal with the arrest of the president of Medical Council of India in recent past ! But nobody could have ever imagined even in his night mares that this corruption in the selection process for MBBS seats will have so bad repercussions in the year 2022, when thousands of Indian students , aspiring to become doctors will have to leave their country and seek asylum in Ukraine ! Because the Medical education was made so costly in their own country by these corrupt elements present in the system that the cost of doing MBBS in INDIA came to be around one crore and twenty five lakhs, which is out of bound for many middle class meritorious students who were left with no other choice rather than to opt for countries like China, Bangladesh and Ukraine to pursue their dreams of becoming a person in white coat!
The total Cost of MBBS education for six years in Ukraine is about 16.25 Lacs and the fee split is Tuition Fee is 3900 USD per year, Hostel Fee is 500 USD per year and the total fee is about 4400 USD per year. The Ukrainian universities have also the provision of paying fee in installments, further there is no donation or hidden fee incurred for MBBS admissions in Ukrainian Medical Universities. The admission process is very simple and with customized solutions to medical aspirants, to make it more lucrative, most of the medical schools in Ukraine made Indian food available cooked by professional Indian Cooks in university hostels unlike in China or other countries where the students are made to eat the ingenious food . Next most important attractive phagocytic phenomenon to attract Indian Student to Ukraine is that the teaching medium is English! I wonder as even in India when my wife Dr Harleen Kaur a microbiologist went to Maharashtra to pursue her MD course, the lectures were delivered in pure Marathi by some teachers of Maharashtra and when she objected to this, she was blatantly told to learn Marathi! Another important factor for high rate of admission in Ukraine is that there is no need to clear TOEFl or IELTS for admission in Ukraine Medical Universities. The MBBS degrees from recognized medical universities are recognized everywhere in the world. Their MBBS Degrees are recognized by MCI, UNESCO, WHO and FAIMER. In addition to all this, special routine classes are arranged for FMGE- MCI examinations for MBBS in Ukraine. Fee structure and clearing of NEET exam are the two reasons that often keep Indian students on back seat to drop their idea of pursuing MBBS in India.
Further, in contrast to as in India because of very stringent rule regarding availability of medical faculty in Medical Colleges to get recognition , the Ukraine government has formulated a very innovated formula, that is of pooling of medical professors, experienced medical faculties and lectures in different medical colleges. Now back to our UT where we have opened many new medical colleges but surprisingly no new Medical college has full faculty , A number of new medical colleges even lack the basic requirement of medical faculty, whereas on the other side in Government Medical college Jammu and Srinagar, we are having excessive faculty, So it is the need of hour to pool the faculty for all Government as well as Private colleges to bring down the cost of medical education in India so that no more medical aspirants have to go to other aligned and hostile countries to pursue the education of their dreams taking the risk of their life!
It is the high time the Government led by Mr Modi , who is known for taking bold steps in the interest of Nation look towards this hidden and unseen problem and make medical education in India cheap and at par with foreign nations, so that no more medical aspirants have to go to China, Ukraine , Bangladesh and other countries. If Modi succeeded in doing this, it will be a great homage to many parents, my mother who mustered courage to take on Abdullah to get her son admitted in Government Medical College Jammu way back in 1983!
Mr. Prime Minister, as you have been credited with doing the thing which were considered impossible few years back, it is the time for a new surgical strike on Medical mafia in India, the another Balakote strike, and I have faith that your this strike on educational mafia will bring down the cost of MBBS training in our country and no more Naveen Shekarappa Gyanagouda will lose his life in Ukraine! An educational Balakote strike is expected from a Chai wala to prevent more operations GANGA in near future!
Expectations are high only when you expect that your expectations will be fulfilled otherwise as Mirza Ghalib said ,
Hazaron khvahishen aisi ki har khvahish pe dam nikle
Bahut nikle mire arman lekin phir bhi kam nikle
(The author is Professor and Head Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College Jammu)
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