The Centre told the Supreme Court that they will not be able to accommodate Indian medical students who were forced to flee Ukraine following the Russian invasion of the country. In an affidavit, the government stated that the students took admission in Ukrainian colleges due to poor National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) scores or due to low college fees.

The medical students have been facing an uncertain future ever since they were forced to evacuate Ukraine after Russia declared war on its neighbouring nation in February this year.

The government told the Supreme Court that the Ukraine returnee medical students cannot be accommodated in Indian colleges. Giving seats to Ukraine-returned medical students who did not meet the NEET score would hamper the standard of medical education in India, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

" The common NEET exam is being conducted since 2018 and only those candidates who secure more than 50 percentile marks are eligible to take admission in Indian Medical Institutions", the Center said in an affidavit.

The Centre pointed out that the students went to Ukraine Universities due to "poor merit in the NEET exam" or due to "affordability of Medical Education in such foreign countries".

"It is humbly submitted that in case these students with (a) poor merit are allowed admission in premier medical colleges in India by default, there may be several litigations from those desirous candidates who could not get seats in these colleges and have taken admission in either lesser known colleges or have been deprived of a seat in medical colleges. Further, in case of affordability, if these candidates are allocated Private Medical Colleges in India, they once again may not be able to afford the fees structure of the concerned institution," the Centre said in the affidavit.

(With inputs from agencies)