50 foreign medicos stage stir, demand clarification on PRs

Chaos as foreign medical graduates protest in Vijayawada demanding clarification on Permanent Registrations, facing career uncertainty.

Chaos ensued on Monday when around 50 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) staged a protest in front of the Andhra Pradesh Medical Council office (APMC) in Vijayawada for the second time in four months, demanding clarification on whether and when the council will issue their Permanent Registrations (PRs).

The foreign medicos, joined by some of their parents, protested for one hour and lamented that it had been seven months since they applied for their PRs and that the government had not responded.

“No one seems to understand how pressured we feel. We are all aged between 28 and 30. How many days can we sit idle after completing our MBBS course? Some of us have even cleared the NEET exam but are not allowed to appear for counselling as we don’t have the PR,” said a foreign medico at the protest.

As per the National Medical Commission (NMC) guidelines issued on June 19, only those who have compensatory certificates from their parent universities can do a one-year internship. “All of us have the certificates. If the APMC wanted us to do a two-year internship, they should have told us the same at the time of allotment and not now,” the medico said.

Meanwhile, the APMC has maintained that it is following the rules stipulated by the NMC. Registrar I. Ramesh said he is not against the welfare of graduates, but he is trying to ensure a transparent process in view of reports that a few graduates have obtained ‘fake’ certificates to get PRs.

“We are sending all the degrees and marks transcripts to be scrutinised by the Embassies in other countries. We are waiting for the Embassies to confirm if those degrees are genuine. The list of genuine candidates is awaited from the Embassies. Once the list arrives, the candidates shall receive the PRs,” Dr. Ramesh said, adding that he didn’t have the information about how long the process would take.

Meanwhile, affirming that they would not leave the city until they got a clarification or a written promise about when they would receive their PRs, the graduates said they are discussing whether to take the matter to court.