New Delhi: Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has controversially claimed that "90 per cent of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India". The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, however, told reporters in Chalageri that this is "not the right time to debate why students are moving out to study medicine".
Those who get a medical degree abroad, have to pass the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (FMGE), to practice medicine in India.
Mr Joshi's comment comes as thousands of Indian students remain stranded in Ukraine, which is currently fighting a bitter war with invading troops of Russia.
Since Thursday, when the hostilities between Ukraine and Russia started, videos have been pouring in from students desperate to leave the country.
Seeking urgent help, the students are heard saying that they are not being allowed to board trains. They say they are being manhandled and physically thrown out of trains.
At the border, where many reached after walking miles in the sub-zero temperature, they are being made to wait for hours without food or water, the students have said.
Yesterday one of the students, a 21-year-old from Karnataka, died during Russian shelling in Kharkiv.
As the opposition criticism of the government sharpened over what it called a slow pace of evacuation, many on social media argued that the students were given timely warning by the government, but chose
to disregard advice to evacuate.
Many also made snide comments about "NIFT rejects" -- those unable to pass the all-India medical entrance exam -- going to Ukraine to study.
Others have argued that India does not have enough medical seats to accommodate all deserving aspirants. They have also cited the poor doctor-patient ratio in the country, pointing out that without foreign university graduates who come back to practice, the situation would have been far worse.
The government has said that the country is making all efforts to bring the students back home safely.
Sources said evacuation is taking place in areas where the conflict has not endangered movement. More than 9000 Indian nationals have been brought out of Ukraine while a considerable number are now in safer areas, the government has said.