Kashmir graduates with Pakistani medical degrees face professional limbo in India

• Medical students from Kashmir who graduated from Pakistani universities are unable to practice medicine in India due to bureaucratic barriers and government restrictions.
• India’s National Medical Commission (NMC) issued a notice in 2022 barring students who pursued medical degrees in Pakistan from taking the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), which is required to practice in India.
• Hundreds of students remain in professional limbo, unable to officialize their degrees despite significant financial investment and years of training.

Regulatory Background

• The 2022 NMC notice, following a joint advisory from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), declared Indian citizens and Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) ineligible for FMGE if they enrolled in Pakistani medical colleges after December 2018.
• Exceptions apply only to those who obtained security clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• As of February 2025, hundreds of students—including those who graduated before the 2018 threshold—remain without recognition, waiting for security clearances or struggling with administrative hurdles.
• The Indian Supreme Court upheld the NMC's requirement that foreign medical students must pass the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), yet for those who studied in Pakistan, even passing the NEET does not guarantee the right to take the licensing exam.

Impact on Students

• Graduates are forced to work as "observers" in private hospitals without being recognized as doctors, leading to limited career advancement and economic instability.
• Students report being subjected to rigorous security vetting, including police summons, home visits by MHA officials, and answering special security questionnaires.
• Beyond professional barriers, graduates face social ostracism and stigma within the Kashmir valley for having studied in Pakistan.
• Human rights organizations have raised concerns regarding the violation of the fundamental right to education, but the Indian government maintains that the 2022 notice remains in force.