LONDON: Britain's Health Department's decision to delay the implementation of the new immigration rules appears to have been prompted by the threat of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) to seek an injunction against the new immigration regime, according to its president Dr. Ramesh Mehta.

He told The Hindu that the association planned to go ahead with its appeal against the High Court judgment.

"We are happy that the Department of Health has responded sensibly. We expect that all doctors will be treated equally and on merit rather than on nationality. This is in the best interests of the British people who deserve the best doctors... ," he said.

Dr. Raman Lakshman, vice-chair for policy at BAPIO, said it was a "step in the right direction."

"This would not have happened had the international medical graduate community quietly accepted the new rules. This U turn by the Department of Health is due to the sustained campaign of BAPIO, supported by thousands of international medical graduates," he said.

Threatened

More than 15,000 overseas doctors have been affected by the new rules, and 80 per cent of them are from the Indian subcontinent.

With their savings running out and job prospects threatened by the changed immigration criterion many have been reduced to surviving on handouts.

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