KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said first-year medical students who were compelled to return from war-ravaged Ukraine will be allowed admission at private medical colleges in the state.
Second- and third-year students will be allowed to attend 'practical classes' at different government medical colleges and fourth- and fifth-year students will be allowed to undergo 'observing seat' at different medical colleges. The final-year students, on the other hand, will be allowed to take up internships at medical colleges as per government norms.
According to the CM, there are 78 first-year medical students out of 422 returnees and they would all get admission at private medical colleges. "Sixty-nine of them are NEET-qualified. For them, the private colleges have been asked to provide admission on a concessional rate against the management quota seats. Only few would be left after that and they too will be taken care of," the CM said.
"The Centre asked them to go to Poland or Hungary - an irresponsible act. But we have to be responsible for our students," she said.
Among 409 undergraduate medical students, 172 second- and third-year students will be allowed to attend 'practical classes' at different government medical colleges in a batch of 15-20 students per college. As many as 135 fourth- and fifth-year students will be allowed to undergo 'observing seat' at different medical colleges and 23 final-year students will be allowed to take up internship at medical colleges as per government norms.
TOI spoke to students and parents of multiple first-years students who said they underwent a counselling session last Tuesday. On Thursday, shortly before the chief minister's press conference, they received phone numbers of admission coordinators of four private medical colleges in the state. "My son has a 5,000-plus rank in NEET. We have been provided with four phone numbers but we are yet to get connected with them," said the father of a first-year student from Ukraine's Uzhgorod Medical University.
The chief minister further said similar arrangements were made for three dental students as well while the six engineering students had been offered seats in private engineering colleges under JIS group where two of them have already joined.
Among the three workers, two have been provided jobs as casual workers and have been provided loans to start small businesses. The third has left for a job in Dubai.
