The Hindu : National : CPI takes up cause of Indian doctors in U.K.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 05, 2006

National

National

CPI takes up cause of Indian doctors in U.K.

Special Correspondent

Says Centre should urgently negotiate the visa issue

NEW DELHI: The Communist Party of India (CPI) has urged the Central Government to take up with U.K. the cause of Indian medical professionals there staring at an uncertain future following change in visa rules.

General secretary A.B. Bardhan said that besides scrapping the Permit Free Training (PFT) visa effective next month, the British Ministry of Health also instructed the hospital trusts not to apply for work permit for overseas doctors unless British/ European Union candidates were unavailable.

No prior notices

"The result will be that with no prior notices whatsoever, nearly 7,000 Indian doctors will be thrown out of the U.K. leaving their post-graduation halfway. To top it, they have without mentioning it in writing, made the new rule applicable to everyone retrospectively, even to those who passed examinations prior to 2005," Mr. Bardhan said in his letter to the Prime Minister. Mr. Bardhan who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Government should study the orders scrapping the PFT visa and negotiate with the British authorities.

The Government, he said, should also see that these orders were not applied retrospectively but only to those who take the relevant examination henceforth with the full knowledge of the new rules.

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