Students evacuated from Ukraine hold protests in Delhi, seek admission to Indian medical colleges

When tensions were mounting between Russia and Ukraine, the Indian government had decided to evacuate over 18,000 Indian students and citizens from the war-torn country, which unfortunately put a pause on the medical studies of many evacuees.

Pressing for the completion of their studies, Indian students evacuated from war-torn Ukraine, and their parents gathered at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Sunday to reiterate their demand for their admission to Indian medical institutes.

According to IANS reports, as many as 300 parents and students from across the nation under the Parents Association of Ukraine MBBS Students demanded the government ensure the evacuee's enrollment in the Indian institutes to complete their remaining education.

Talking to IANS, the Association President R.B. Gupta said: "The government was planning to admit these students in Poland, Hungry, and European countries where the fees are much higher and more or less similar to Indian private medical colleges... we all are from middle-class families who can’t afford the fees.

"So we gathered here to request Prime Minister Narendra Modi that these children should accommodate in Indian medical colleges,” Gupta further added.

While speaking to ANI, Dr Rajesh Kumar Chandel, father of a 5th-year MBBS student from Kharkiv University, said, “We are not protesting, we are requesting the government to accommodate our children in colleges. All the parents have come to Delhi to request the government to accommodate their children in Indian medical colleges.”

The students also raised objections against the offer to get admission to medical colleges in Poland and Hungary, saying that these countries are more expensive and the students don’t know the local language, which will prevent them from treating patients.

Aditya Bhardwaj, a fourth-year student at Kharkiv in Ukraine said, "We are requesting the government as they have already helped us a lot by bringing us back home. We are already obliged to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian government for bringing us back home safely. Our future is in dilemma. Our classes that are running online are not running properly

When the war between Russia and Ukraine began in late February, the Indian government was quick to act and launched a rescue operation called Operation Ganga, through which it evacuated Indian students and citizens from the country.

(With inputs from agencies)

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