'My Son got a 97 percent, but he couldn't get a seat in India,' said the father of Naveen Shekharappa, a final year medical student, who passed away due to Russian shelling in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv

The suffering of Indian students stranded in Ukraine brought to light long-standing concerns of medical education affordability and the disparity between the number of applicants and available medical seats in the country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself acknowledged the country's dismal state of affairs in terms of medical education seekers. "Today, our children are studying in various countries around the world, particularly in medical schools. There's also the issue of language, but they're going nonetheless. Hundreds of billions of rupees are going out of the country. Isn't it possible for our private sector to invest in this industry in large quantities? Isn't it possible for our state governments to develop good policies for allocating land for this type of work? So that the maximum number of doctors and paramedics are available to us," Modi remarked during a webinar on the Union budget announcements on the health sector on February 26th.

What attracts Indian students to Ukraine?

To answer it in a sentence- It’s the “Low MBBS fees.” Medical universities in Ukraine charge a fee of Rs 20 lakh- Rs 25 lakh for MBBS course as against Rs. 1 Crore charged in India. In fact, the cost of an MBBS degree in Ukraine is less than in many other overseas medical schools. That is why Ukraine attracts students hoping to be doctors from all over the world, not only India. Furthermore, the Government of India recognises MBBS degrees earned in Ukrainian universities.

The number of Indians in Ukraine is unknown to the Ministry of External Affairs. Unofficial accounts, on the other hand, suggest that there were more than 20,000 Indians in the area before the air evacuation began on Saturday. According to the Ministry of Education, around 18,095 of them are students, out of which 90% are medical students. And most of these students go to study MBBS in Ukraine’s Kharkiv and Kyiv, the worst affected areas in Ukraine till date.

In 2021, more than 1.5 million students wrote the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) which is the qualifier for undergraduate medical courses. However, there are only 88,120 seats available in the country, with approximately 50,000 seats available at the 313 government-owned medical institutions. Many students who are unable to obtain a seat in government medical colleges travel to other countries to pursue their MBBS degrees.

The two largest cities in Ukraine, Kharkiv and Kyiv, are home to the majority of Indian students in the country, with a combined population of about 5 million people. These are two of the places that have been subjected to the most Russian aggression, including shelling and missile strikes in subzero temperatures.

Present Scenario

Since the advisories were issued, a total of 17,000 Indian citizens have left Ukraine, and flights under Operation Ganga have been expanded to enable the evacuation of remaining students stranded in Ukraine.

According to India's Foreign Ministry, some 8,000 Indian citizens, largely students, were still seeking to flee Ukraine as of late Tuesday. Active fighting has complicated the evacuation process, with students attempting to make it to clogged border crossings.

Indian students have travelled kilometres in frigid weather to cross into neighbouring nations as the crisis has escalated in recent days. Many people filmed recordings appealing for aid from their subterranean bunkers and hostel rooms. Other students accused border guards of bigotry, claiming that they were forced to wait longer simply because they were Indians.

According to the Indian external ministry, the Ukrainian airspace has been restricted to civilian flights due to the continuing war, so Indian students wishing to escape Ukraine must go by land to the nearest border to take advantage of Operation Ganga.

What’s next in line for these students?

The destiny of thousands of students trapped on Ukrainian borders and those who have recently returned home is shrouded in the fog of war. Many of the students, mostly medical students, have only a few years remaining of their 6-year degree, but their future look as dismal as war-torn Ukraine.

"Historically, educational institutions have survived armed conflicts, and we sincerely hope and pray that universities will reopen once the political situation has been resolved and things have calmed down in the next 4-5 months," said Tarun Aggarwal, chief business officer, CollegeDekho, college admissions and education services platform.

 “However, given the current politically fluid situation, it is very difficult to ascertain when educational institutions will re-open." He further stated.

“We will write to the Central government if the students can pursue their remaining degree from Indian colleges, if they pass a set of criteria," said Anubha Shrivastava Sahai, a child rights activist.