NORI certificate helped the graduates to waive the mandatory period.
By Raghavendra M
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In order to control brain drain and to fill the shortage of qualified doctors in the country, Indian government has decided to stop issuing “No Obligation To Return To India” (NORI) certificate.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued new guidelines, according to which no NORI certificate would be given under any circumstance.
The NORI certificate had helped PG students studying in the US to start their practice in the country immediately after their education.
While the US immigration laws make two years of home residency mandatory, the NORI certificate helped the graduates to waive the mandatory period and apply for H-1B or the work visa.
As per the new guidelines, applications for extension of Statement of Need Certificate (SON) and Exceptional Need Certificate (ENC) to Indian Medical doctors shall be processed only by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Dr Naresh Trehan of Medanta, a leading heart surgeon, backed the decision by the Indian government. “All countries have this rule. India has been very lax in (implementing) it. Very few of us have come back and I think this should be an obligation that you come and serve your country”, NDTV quoted him as saying.
As per the statistics by Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, a healthcare organization, India has a huge scarcity of doctors – 40% short of the norm.