Foreign medical graduates protest at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Park in Gautam Nagar, near AIIMS Delhi on Monday
Around 1,000 foreign medical graduates (FMGs) are sitting on protest at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Park in Gautam Nagar, near AIIMS Delhi, demanding transparency and reforms in the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) conducted on June 28, 2026. One of the protesters, Dr Jaswant Singh Yadav, is also on hunger strike, as the students press the authorities to address their concerns over the examination and its evaluation.The protesters have also written to Union Health Minister J P Nadda, seeking his intervention in the matter and urging the authorities to address their concerns over the examination and its outcome.According to Dr Jaswant Singh Yadav, national executive member and representative for the All FMGs Association (AFA) and AIMSA Foreign Medical Students Wing, the protest follows widespread concerns among foreign medical graduates over the difficulty and format of the June FMGE.“Students have particularly objected to the introduction of unexpected and time-consuming video-based questions, which they claim were not adequately communicated in advance. According to the protesters, the additional time provided during the examination was insufficient to compensate for the time required to understand and answer such questions,” he said. Compensatory MarksHe added that the students are seeking compensation for candidates who were affected by the unexpected questions. Their demands include compensatory or grace marks, or an appropriate reduction in the qualifying cut-off, depending on the assessment of the impact of the questions.“Transparency in the examination process is another major demand. The students want NBEMS to release the official answer key and individual response sheets so that candidates can verify their answers and understand how their papers were evaluated. They have also sought a mechanism through which disputed or questionable questions can be reviewed,” he said. The concerns have been raised against the backdrop of a sharp decline in the pass rate in the June FMGE, which has intensified questions among candidates about the difficulty and structure of the examination. The protesters say that any major change in the question pattern should be communicated well in advance, as students prepare according to the established format of the screening examination.Letter to GovtThe All India Medical Students’ Association (AIMSA), Foreign Medical Students’ Wing, has separately written to Health Minister J P Nadda seeking his intervention. In its representation, the association has highlighted concerns relating to the examination pattern, transparency, examination-centre facilities and the need for greater accountability.The students are also demanding broader reforms in the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). Among the demands raised during the protest is the resignation of NBEMS president Dr Abhijat Sheth, along with institutional measures to make the conduct and evaluation of examinations more transparent and predictable.Affected StudentsThe protesters have also sought better facilities at examination centres, including proper seating arrangements and functional washrooms. They have demanded that FMGE be conducted three times a year instead of twice, arguing that the growing number of foreign medical graduates requires more frequent opportunities to appear for the screening examination. A review of the ₹6,195 examination fee has also been sought.The association has emphasised that FMGE is a screening examination and not a competitive examination, and has called for a test that appropriately assesses whether foreign medical graduates meet the required standard without making the examination unnecessarily complicated.According to the protesting students, around 40,000 foreign medical graduates are affected by the concerns surrounding the June examination.Published on August 24, 2026
