He Couldn't Get Medical Seat Despite 97% Marks, Says Father Of Indian Student Killed In Ukraine

The father of Naveen Shekharappa, the Indian student who was killed in a Russian rocket attack on the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on Tuesday has said that his son was a topper who was forced to go abroad as he could not get a medical seat in India 'due to the system'.

"Despite scoring 97% in PUC, my son could not secure a medical seat in State. To get a medical seat one has to give crores of rupees and students are getting the same education abroad spending less money," Shekharappa Gyanagoudar a native of Chalageri in Karnataka¡¯s Haveri district said on Tuesday, hours after his son was killed.

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MBBS abroad is less expensive

"I found out that I would have to spend anywhere between Rs 85 lakh and Rs 1 crore to put him in a private medical college. That¡¯s when I decided to send him to Ukraine, but that proved far more costly,¡± Gyanagoudar, a retired paper mill employee, said.

¡°Due to the education system and casteism, he could not get a seat despite being an intelligent student,¡± Gyanagoudar told PTI.

¡°I am dejected with our political system, education system and casteism. Everything is in the control of private institutes..,¡± he said.

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The 21-year-old student studying at Kharkiv National Medical University, Ukraine died in shelling while he was standing in a queue to buy food.

According to his father, he had borrowed money from his friends and relatives to send Naveen to Ukraine to study MBBS.

Put Indian flag on the building

In one of the last conversations, Naveen had with his family, Gyanagoudar had told his son to put up an Indian flag on the building to be safe from the rocket attacks.

According to him, Union Minister Piyush Goyal had recommended this.

They can't clear NEET

On Monday, Union parliamentary affairs minister Pralhad Joshi, who is also an MP from Karnataka had claimed that about ¡°90% of Indians who study medicine abroad fail to clear qualifying exams in India - NEET¡±.

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The Minister also said 60 per cent of the Indian students who go abroad land up in China, Russia and Ukraine with the cumulative MBBS fee in these countries being around Rs 35 lakh, including the cost of education and living expenses.

In contrast, the MBBS course in any private medical college in India costs between Rs 45-55 lakh.

Following the death of Naveen, the opposition hit out at the government accusing it of insulting Indian students instead of evacuating them from the conflict zone.

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