Court directs health ministry to reconsider giving ‘No Obligation to Return to India’ (NORI) certificate to doctor-researcher
In the petition, Noothi (39) has said he has been working with University of Kentucky since 2013 in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court’s
Aurangabad bench directed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the
Ministry of Human Resource Development on Tuesday to reconsider the case of a
Mumbai-based doctor-researcher who has been forced to return jobless to India
from the US after the Centre refused to issue him a ‘No Obligation to Return to
India’ (NORI) certificate.
Observing that the refusal to issue NORI
certificate to the petitioner, Sunil Noothi, for his medical research work in
University of Kentucky is “not fair, reasonable and proper”, the bench of
Justice Sangitrao Patil and Justice R M Borde directed the health ministry to
reconsider his case and allow him to return to the US as long as he does not
practise medicine outside India.
The court gave three months to the government
to take a decision on Noothi’s NORI application.
In the petition, Noothi (39) has said he has
been working with University of Kentucky since 2013 in the Department of
Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics.
The cancer research he was carrying out in
the US was not available in India and he had “invested huge time and money on
the research project”. He previously worked with the Tata Institute of
Fundamental Research in Mumbai.
In December 2015, the government refused to
re-issue his NORI certificate to extend his stay in the US. For a year now,
Noothi has been living in Mumbai with no job.
According to the health ministry, since
August 2013, the provision of NORI certificate to doctors has been stopped except
for those above 65 years of age in an attempt to plug the skewed doctor-patient
ratio in the country. A NORI is government’s no objection for a person wishing
to work abroad. While medical students are permitted to study abroad, they have
to return to India to practise.
The government respondent said in court that
there are 6.9 lakh doctors in India; however, four lakh more doctors are needed
by 2022 considering the country’s population.
According to government statistics, Indian
doctors are working in the UK and Canada to the extent of 30 per cent and
25 per cent respectively.
The respondent added that there is an
“increasing trend among Indian doctors of not returning to India after
completion of their study in the USA”.
The bench observed that since Noothi is not
practising and is purely a research scholar, he should be given NORI
certificate to carry on his research work on cancer.
The court also observed that he will not
practise medicine even if he is forced to live in India.
According to advocate Rahul Totala, at least
6,000 such doctors have approached him with apprehensions of NORI certificate
ever since the government took the decision to balance doctor-patient ratio in
the country.
“Our petition in court has been accepted and
the matter will be soon taken up,” he said.
Source | Indian Express | 21 December 2016
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