Sinagar Apr 19 (KNS) : The Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Wednesday asked the J & K administration to address the demands and concerns of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) and allow them to do internships in medical colleges across J&K.

Echoing the concerns of the protesting FMGs, party's State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said, “As per the guidelines by NMC (National Medical Commission), students who have completed their MBBS degree from foreign medical universities are required to appear for the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) which allows them to practice medicine in India. Students who qualify for the exam are then required to undergo a mandatory medical internship.  Forty thousand such FMGs had appeared in the test out of which only three thousand had cleared it. However the total number of FMGs that qualified the mandatory screening test in J&K is 400, out of which only 230 have been inducted for the mandatory Internship. While the fate of remaining 170 aspirants who had also qualified the test has been put into a lurch. Most of these FMGs had also applied for internships in other states but they were denied the same on domicile issues.”

Imran further said, “Intern doctors played a pivotal role in the fight against COVID-19 in Jammu and Kashmir. Their work hours go beyond that of permanent faculty. They form an important part of the workforce in understaffed medical colleges and hospitals in rural areas and the distribution of doctors in J&K is already lopsided. The services of such Interns can be used to fulfil the shortage of staff in primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare centers across J&K. Therefore, the government should increase the intake capacity of CRMI seats and refrain from any sort of discrimination.”

“I hope the concerned authorities will take cognizance of their plight and mitigate their sufferings on priority basis.” (KNS)