The Doctors Association for Social Equality (DASE) and The Tamil Nadu Medical Students’ Association - Foreign Medical Graduates (FMG) Wing are jointly conducting a hunger strike protest on January 6 to put forward their demands including allotting 20% of the total Compulsory Rotatory Medical Internship (CRMI) positions in medical colleges to FMGs and to permit them to undergo CRMI in district government hospitals.
A large number of students from Tamil Nadu go to countries such as the Philippines, Russia, Kyrgyzstan, China, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Mauritius, Singapore, and Malaysia to study medicine. Nearly 1,800 of these FMGs clear the qualifying examination conducted by the Central government every year. These graduates have been facing many hurdles recently, the associations said.
They urged the National Medical Commission (NMC), the Union government and the Tamil Nadu Medical Council (TNMC) to increase the allocation of CRMI positions in medical colleges from the current 7.5% to 20% for graduates who have studied medicine abroad. NMC granted permission in 2022 for FMGs to undergo CRMI in district government hospitals but TNMC was not implementing it, the representatives said.
