A prescription for our stranded doctors

India should be more pro-active about helping its own people abroad

The good news trickling in from London indicates that the doctors of Indian origin may finally be able to continue living in the UK and pursue their careers in that country, despite the retrograde legislation just passed by the British government. This new law provokes a pertinent question: is there anything common in the Commonwealth beyond the rhetoric and pious platitudes of a common heritage of democracy and parliamentarism? It is unfortunate that while doctors from European countries with low linguistic skills in English have been allowed to pursue their careers in the UK, doctors of Indian origin were being denied the necessary permission to do so.

While the government cannot do much except appeal to the good sense of the British government, it can certainly do a lot to help the Indian workforce. The diaspora issue was highlighted in the wake of the recommendations of the High Level Committee on the Indian diaspora headed by L.M. Singhvi, and the creation of a separate ministry of overseas Indian affairs in 2004. There has been a number of policy initiatives to involve the diaspora in the national mainstream since then.

Although both PIOs and Overseas Citizens of Indian Origin are not entitled to the rights conferred on Indian citizens, the Indian government in recent years has come out with a number of innovative and imaginative schemes to attract scientists and technologists of Indian origin to work in collaborative projects in India, while similarly allowing Indian scientists and technologists to collaborate with their peers abroad. The purpose of this initiative is to provide opportunities to engage with scientists of Indian origin abroad, who constitute a pool of globally mobile professionals. The collaborative project aims at synergising the expertise and exposure of the scientists and technologists of Indian origin living abroad with their counterparts at home.

Yet another scheme which the department of biotechnology in the ministry of science and technology has recently launched — and which can provide immediate succour to the medical professionals affected by UK’s discriminatory immigration policy — is the Ramalinga Swamy Fellowships. They are for scientists, physicians, researchers and bio-engineers of Indian origin working outside the country in the fields of biotechnology, life sciences, bio-engineering, translational science and other related disciplines who are interested in taking up scientific research positions in India. The duration of the fellowship is a period of five years, extendable by another five years. The amount of fellowship may not be as lucrative in what can be earned abroad. Nevertheless, the monthly fellowship of Rs 50,000 for the first three years and Rs 60,000 for the last two years, and a contingency grant of Rs 5 lakh, certainly provide a breather to professionals like aggrieved Indian doctors in the UK. The Indian government, instead of being hamstrung by bureaucratic rules, should be flexible in interpreting them in favour of professionals of Indian origin.