New Delhi: The father of the Indian student, Naveen Shekharappa, who was killed in war-torn Ukraine expressed his anguish over the state of medical education in India.Speaking to presspersons Naveen Shekharappa’s father, Shekharappa, on Wednesday, said, “Despite scoring 97% in the pre-university course (PUC), my son could not secure a medical seat in the state. To get a medical seat one has to give crores of rupees and students are getting the same education abroad spending less money.”Naveen Shekharappa, a native of Chalageri village in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district, Karnataka, was killed in shelling on Tuesday, March 1, in Kharkiv as Russian forces’ onslaught continues against Ukraine. The 21-year-old was studying MBBS fourth year at the Kharkiv National Medical University.The plight of Indian medical students trapped in the war-ravaged country brought to the fore the longstanding issues of unaffordability of Indian medical education and the yawning gap between the number of aspirants for medical education in the country and the number of seats available.Also read: Indian Embassy Did Not Reach Out to Those Stranded in Kharkiv: Father of Student Killed in ShellingIn fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself acknowledged this sad state of affairs concerning medical education aspirants in the country. “Today our children are going to small countries of the world to study, especially for medical education. There is also the problem of language, yet they are going. Billions of rupees are going out of the country. Can’t our private sector get into this field in huge quantities? Can’t our state governments make good policies in giving land for this type of work? So that maximum doctors are ready with us, paramedics are ready,” Modi said on February 26 at a webinar on the Union budget announcements on the health sector.However, though well-intentioned his statements have attracted the cynicism of those in the management of medical education. They believe encouraging the private sector will only worsen the situation than improve it. It could only repeat the problem seen in the case of thousands of engineering colleges in the country which sprang up after the government eased regulations for private engineering education. Year after year, due to the lack of trained faculty, infrastructure and quality education, these private engineering colleges churn out students who lack employable skills.Modi’s statements were soon followed by Union minister Prahalad Joshi’s remarks which attracted criticism from parents of students trapped in Ukraine and political parties.“90% of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India,” Joshi said. While Joshi’s comment has been described as an “insult” to Indian students trapped in bunkers in Ukraine, it has also highlighted that medical education aspirants have to cough up huge sums of money for coaching to prepare for NEET to find a place among a few thousands of seats available.On the other hand, if a student wishes to study at a private medical college, the cost could go up to Rs 1 crore including donations. However, in the case of Ukraine, Russia and China, where most Indian students go for medical education, the cost could be anywhere between Rs 30-35 lakh.
