Parents of students from Ahmedabad who are enrolled in medical universities in Ukraine and returned home following the Russia-Ukraine war launched a petition campaign on Sunday, demanding that their children be admitted to medical schools in the country.
The parents gathered under the Indo-Ukrainian Student Front Gujarat Chapter asked the state government to make a decision within a month because the universities are demanding money for the upcoming semester.
Parents from across the state who are participating in the campaign are also seeking public support.
“If the government does not come up with a solution in a month, we will have to pay the fee amounting to lakhs for the new semester in July that will serve no purpose. A decision has to be taken soon. If the government fail to do this, we will lose our money and the future of our children will be at stake,” said Naina Parmar, mother of Priyanshu, first year student at Bukovinian State Medical University (BSMU) in Chernivtsi, Ukraine.
Parmar, state co-ordinator of Indo-Ukrainian Student Front Gujarat Chapter, said that they had already submitted representations to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, Education Minister Jitu Vaghani and Health Minister Rushikesh Patel. “Parents and students are worried over what will happen next,” said another parent Snehal Dave.
“If the government wants, they can accommodate all students… it is not difficult… As per an estimate, there are around 18,000 such students from first to last year whose future is at stake and there are around 605 medical colleges in the country,” said Naina.
The parents added that there are 90,000 seats of which half are private and half government, against which 16 lakh students take the NEET exam. Even for these seats 60 per cent are reserved. “How can a child dream of gettingmedical education in this country,” parents questioned.
According to estimates, approximately 1,100-1,200 medical students have returned to Gujarat from Ukraine, with approximately 500 students from Ahmedabad, a similar number from Surat, and approximately 150 students from Vadodara.