25,000 go abroad yearly to study medicine: The PM has a plan

With an estimated 25,000 Indian students pursuing medical studies abroad every year, often enduring challenging conditions, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the government will introduce 75,000 new seats in medical colleges over the next five years. But critics wonder how the expansion will be funded.

In the midst of recent political unrest in Bangladesh sparked by student unhappiness over job quotas, calls began to emerge from within India for the safe evacuation of Indian medical students in Bangladesh. According to the Ministry of External Affairs, by 1 August, a total of 7,200 Indian medical students were safely repatriated.

A similar situation arose in February 2022 when Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, prompting widespread calls for the government to ensure the safe evacuation of Indian students. During that crisis, the government successfully repatriated about 18,000 students.

For years Indian students have increasingly sought medical education in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, China, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan.

Sonali Pandey, who recently returned to India after completing her medical studies in China, shed light on some of the reasons for this trend.

“Studying in a government college in India was not an option for me because of my low NEET-UG scores,” Pandey said.

The NEET-UG or National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) is the national test for admission to medical courses. About 2.3 million students sat the NEET-UG exams this year, with only one in 11 successful candidates securing a medical seat at either a government or private institution.

Unaffordable private college fees

“While I could have gained admission to a private institution, the fees were exorbitantly high – nearly INR10 million (about US$120,000) – and unaffordable for my family. So I considered pursuing medical studies abroad and decided to go to China,” said Pandey.

An estimated 25,000 Indian students travel abroad annually to pursue medical studies because, like Pandey, they cannot secure admission to government colleges and cannot afford the high fees of private institutions.

Statistics reveal a significant disparity between the cost of education in government institutions (INR300,000 or about US$3,600) as opposed to up to INR12 million (or about US$143,000) in private colleges.

Private colleges account for around 48% of the total medical seats available in India.

Dr Aviral Mathur, president of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association of India, said the association has been “persistently asking the government to implement a uniform fee structure to control the escalating costs in private medical colleges”.

At the same time, India faces a major shortage of medical professionals.

A report on rural health statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare last year indicated that India has a shortage of nearly 80% of specialist doctors at the country’s roughly 6,000 Community Health Centers (CHCs) intended to provide essential care in areas such as surgery, gynaecology, paediatrics, and general medicine.

According to Amulya Nidhi, the national co-convener of the People's Health Movement of India, there is a huge shortage of staff in government hospitals and when it comes to rural areas, the shortage is even more acute.

Government expansion plan

Acknowledging the demand for expanded healthcare, Modi recently announced the government’s plan to introduce 75,000 new seats in the medical education sector over the next five years to strengthen the country's healthcare infrastructure.

Speaking on India’s 78th Independence Day on 15 August, Modi said: “In the last 10 years, we have ensured the availability of approximately 100,000 medical seats in the country. Still around 25,000 youth go abroad for medical education and they have to go to such places, which surprises me.

“My government acknowledges the increasing demand for medical education in India, which is why we are developing plans to expand it.”

In February 2024, highlighting previous government efforts to address the shortage of training opportunities, former Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya said there were 707 medical colleges in the country compared to around 340 in the past.

“In the last 10 years, we have doubled this number. Prime Minister Modi has announced the formation of a committee to recommend where additional medical colleges should be established in the future,” he said.

However, many people are sceptical about the government’s commitment to the expansion.

Nidhi said while Modi talks about increasing the number of medical seats, the budget does not reflect any provision for this. “Where will the funds come from for the additional medical seats?” he asked.

“Although many medical colleges across the country have increased the number of seats, they lack the necessary faculty and infrastructure. This poses a significant challenge, as effective teaching cannot occur without essential facilities,” he explained.

Nidhi said for meaningful change to happen in the government health sector, the Union government must hike its investment and budget allocation for health.

Additionally, Nidhi mentioned that several All India Institutes of Medical Sciences facilities announced years ago are yet to get off the ground.

Challenges for students studying abroad

Students who study abroad encounter various challenges and bear the brunt of political tensions between countries as well as global crises such as the COVID pandemic.

Pulkit Parikh, who formed the Indo Ukraine Student Forum to address the problems of students after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out, says the students live in very difficult conditions in Ukraine.

“Many students pursue their studies at the risk of their lives. Many times they continue to attend their classes amidst missile attacks. They did all this only because their families had made tremendous sacrifices to fund their education and they had no other option,” said Pulkit.

When relations between India and China deteriorated following the COVID-pandemic, Indian students also bore the brunt.

After returning home to India from China during the COVID lockdown, many Indian students were not permitted to return to China soon after travel restrictions started to ease.

While China allowed students from countries such as Pakistan to return, the same facility was at first not provided to students from India.

Similarly, some Indian students claimed to have experienced discrimination in Ukraine due to India’s perceived alignment with Russia during the conflict.

Another challenge for Indian medical students abroad is that upon returning to India to practise medicine, they are required to clear the Foreign Medical Graduate Exam (FMGE) required by the Indian government, which is notoriously difficult to pass.

Last year 61,616 students sat the exam but only 10,269 passed.