Medical students returning from Ukraine might being accommodated in Indian colleges, according to petition filed in SC

NEW DELHI: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court, requesting that the Centre and others, as a one-time measure, allow medical students returning from Ukraine at Indian medical institutes with valid Indian or foreign degrees.

In the alternative, the plea requests that the Centre and states work with Ukrainian authorities to declare some seats in central, state, or private medical colleges as overseas campuses of Ukrainian institutes for the purpose of continuing studies as a one-time emergency measure until the war-torn east European country returns to normalcy.

The petition, submitted by two lawyers, shows the predicament of Indian students who have been forced to drop out of different courses, including medical degrees, at several Ukrainian universities.

It claims that it is unclear when normality will return to Ukraine or whether students will be able to finish their degrees.

“Petitioners are public-spirited persons and utterly disturbed by the plight of the medical students, compelled to return to India leaving their medical courses in various colleges and universities in Ukraine,” the plea says.

While hearing a petition regarding the evacuation of some Indian medical students stuck near the Ukraine-Romania border on March 4, the Supreme Court noted the Centre’s claim that it has already evacuated 17,000 Indian students from the war zone.

The court had requested the Centre to consider establishing a “online helpline” for parents and families of students trapped in Ukraine, as well as to inform the high courts not to take up the subject of student evacuation in order to avert a slew of new lawsuits.