Indian doctors criticise health ministry’s plan to curb medical “brain drain”

Sections of India’s medical community have decried a decision by the health ministry to make it obligatory for Indian medical graduates who pursue higher studies in the United States to return to India for at least two years after their studies.

The ministry said last week that it has stopped issuing “No obligation to return to India” certificates required under US visa rules by foreign medical graduates who wish to remain in the United States after study periods lasting up to seven years. It also said that it would provide Indian medical graduates with documents needed for US visa applications only if they pledge through notarised affidavits to return to serve in India for two years.

The decision comes amid longstanding concerns that India is a large exporter of doctors and that most medical graduates from India who …