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KOLKATA, West Bengal — A bureaucratic bottleneck in West Bengal has left 104 qualified Foreign Medical Graduates (FMGs) legally unable to practice medicine, prompting the All FMGs Association (AFA) to urgently seek intervention from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Despite passing the mandatory and rigorous Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) in the July 2024 and January 2025 batches, these doctors remain unallotted for their mandatory one-year Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (CRMI). The worsening crisis highlights a stark paradox in India’s healthcare infrastructure: qualified medical professionals are being forced into professional stagnation while the country continues to grapple with severe rural healthcare deficits and specialist shortages.
A Systemic Breakdown in the Pipeline
Under current National Medical Commission (NMC) regulations, clearing the FMGE screening test is only the first step for Indian citizens who earn their medical degrees abroad. To secure permanent medical registration and legally practice medicine in India, these graduates must complete a twelve-month CRMI.
According to representatives from the AFA, this is the first time an allocation crisis of this magnitude has occurred in West Bengal’s medical education history. The state initially announced 188 internship seats across government medical colleges for FMGs. However, because a significant portion of those slots was backfilled by graduates from earlier cycles, only 40 seats were actualized and released for the January batch.
In response to growing protests, the West Bengal Department of Health and Family Welfare issued a notification in February 2025 increasing the total pool of FMG seats from 188 to 266. Despite this administrative adjustment, 104 doctors remain entirely unallotted as of May 2026, leaving them unable to take their first step into clinical practice.
Expert Commentary: Beyond Administrative Delay
Medical education experts warn that the issue extends far beyond localized red tape.
“This isn’t just a temporary administrative delay—it’s a systemic failure that blocks qualified doctors from entering the workforce,” says Dr. Rajesh Kumar, a veteran physician and former head of community medicine at a Delhi medical college, who was not involved in the allocation proceedings. “When FMGE-passed graduates cannot complete their internships, we are essentially wasting trained medical talent during a critical period of nationwide healthcare workforce shortages.”
The NMC has issued guidelines advising state bodies to utilize 100% of available CRMI seats for FMGs in newly established medical colleges, and up to 7.5% in older, accredited institutions. However, because the actual execution and allotment of internship seats are driven independently by State Medical Councils rather than a centralized national clearinghouse, implementation varies wildly by state, creating severe regional fragmentation.
West Bengal FMG Internship Seat Allocation Breakdown (2025-2026)
┌───────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────┐
│ Category │ Seat Count │
├───────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────┤
│ Initial Seats Announced │ 188 │
│ Seats Released for January Batch │ 40 │
│ Revised Seat Cap (February 2025) │ 266 │
│ Graduates Left Unallotted (May 2026) │ 104 │
└───────────────────────────────────────┴─────────────┘
India’s Doctor Shortage Paradox
The internship crisis unfolds against the backdrop of India’s long-standing healthcare workforce deficit. According to a November 2025 update from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, India’s doctor-to-population ratio stands at roughly 1:811. While this technically meets the World Health Organization’s (WHO) baseline recommendation of 1:1,000, that metric relies on a combined assumption of 80% availability of both allopathic (MD/MBBS) and AYUSH (traditional medicine) practitioners.
The deficit becomes acute when looking at specialized and rural care. Data from the Indian Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health reveals that rural Community Health Centers (CHCs) face a critical shortfall of over 17,551 specialists nationwide, including at least 4,499 general physicians.
“It is entirely paradoxical,” Dr. Kumar notes. “We have dozens of qualified doctors waiting for months or years without clinical exposure in West Bengal alone, while rural areas nearby desperately need medical professionals. The bottleneck isn’t a lack of trained doctors—it’s an inflexible internship pipeline.”
Stipend Equity and Financial Hardship
The West Bengal government’s February 2025 notification did introduce one positive structural change: it increased the monthly FMG intern stipend from ₹28,892 to ₹30,855, successfully matching the pay scale of Indian Medical Graduates (IMGs) in accordance with historical NMC mandates.
However, for the 104 unallotted doctors, this financial equity remains a theoretical victory. Many have now waited between six and seven months without an income, unable to practice or seek alternative employment.
“We never expected that we would be forced into a professional limbo, with total uncertainty looming over our careers,” stated one FMG who completed their medical degree in Ukraine. “We have done everything required by law—passed our degrees, passed the national screening exam—yet we cannot work.”
Mental Health and Career Cascading Effects
The consequences of prolonged administrative delays extend heavily into the mental well-being and long-term career progression of these young professionals. Without a completed CRMI certificate, these 104 graduates are legally barred from registering for the upcoming NEET-PG 2026 examination, effectively freezing their ability to pursue postgraduate specializations.
The AFA has highlighted that these forced delays are causing “extreme distress” among the batch. Peer-reviewed research evaluating medical trainees consistently shows that the transition into clinical practice carries an inherently high burnout risk; historical studies indicate up to 57.5% of medical interns report measurable psychological distress during peak training periods. Forcing graduates to endure months of unpaid, highly anxious waiting periods without clinical engagement significantly compounds these mental health risks.
Confrontation, Escalation, and State Constraints
Tensions peaked recently when a delegation of FMGs approached the West Bengal Health Department seeking clarity after a six-month wait. Reports indicate that a state health official allegedly informed the graduates that no seats were currently available and advised them to take their grievances to the High Court. A video of the confrontation quickly went viral online, drawing sharp criticism from public health advocates over the “Go to High Court” directive.
The AFA has since submitted formal representations to the State Director of Medical Education (DME), stating that the graduates are ready to commence their CRMI immediately at any approved facility. While department officials reportedly offered vague verbal assurances that they would review the bottleneck and attempt to arrange slots by January 2026, the 104 doctors remain without placements.
Conversely, state officials face distinct structural hurdles. New state medical colleges must undergo rigorous infrastructure verifications before accepting interns, and older medical colleges are already operating at maximum capacity accommodating local Indian medical graduates. Furthermore, because State Medical Councils must meticulously coordinate credential verification with State DMEs before issuing provisional registrations, a deep administrative backlog has formed.
Public Health Implications and Next Steps
The West Bengal backlog is not an isolated incident; it represents a broader domestic trend. Thousands of FMGs who cleared their qualification exams are reportedly facing similar placement delays across several states, including Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala.
Public health analysts argue that much of this crisis could be mitigated if State Medical Councils better utilized the nationwide network of NMC-approved non-teaching hospitals. The NMC previously released a state-by-state registry identifying 23,192 potential internship seats in approved hospitals across the country, yet local coordination between state directorates and these institutions remains highly inconsistent.
What This Means for Readers and Prospective Students
For health-conscious citizens, this crisis illustrates that the primary barrier to expanding India’s active doctor workforce is often institutional rather than a lack of willing talent. For families and prospective students considering pursuing an MBBS degree abroad, this ongoing bottleneck underscores the necessity of factoring post-graduation administrative timelines into their financial and career planning, as clearing the FMGE no longer guarantees an immediate pathway to practicing medicine in India.
Medical Disclaimer
Medical Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Always consult with qualified healthcare professionals before making any health-related decisions or changes to your treatment plan. The information presented here is based on current research and expert opinions, which may evolve as new evidence emerges.
References
- https://medicaldialogues.in/state-news/west-bengal/104-fmgs-left-out-from-internship-allotment-in-wb-medicos-seek-cm-adhikaris-intervention-171371
