Nursing, a profession highly devoted to care, respect, and love, has been proved to be a lucrative sector for businesses in the southern state of India, Karnataka. 

Karnataka, however, has now emerged as a difficult place for many students because of various acts passed by government, the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences and the Indian Nursing Council (INC).

Previously, an agreement was reached between Nepal and India about issues related to the education system. According to that, citizens or any students from either country can get a job and education in another country with equal rights, validity and recognition of that particular country. 

However, a circular was issued in September 2013 with the cancellation of parental registration in India for Nepali students who are pursuing BSc Nursing courses there. It further claimed that Nepali students who had pursued their degree in Karnataka are not eligible to work in Karnataka. Not only that, new orders regarding the INC affiliation that were recently passed by two governments have made a ripple effect in the state. 

In December 2016, the Indian government issued an order about the INC affiliation in nursing colleges in Karnataka which advocates that INC approval is not necessary for nursing colleges, while KNC and RGUoHS will provide approval. As INC is the main regulatory body of nursing courses, the cancelation of its affiliation from any college will ultimately lead to cancellation of recognition and approval of nursing courses on other states of India as well as other countries. 
To apply for registration in Nepal, nursing students need to produce INC certified documents. So, the cancelation of INC approval might ultimately lead to neutralize the bachelor nursing courses pursued in Karnataka and the degree wouldn’t be valid in Nepal. 

Even Karnataka Pravasi Congress General Secretary Vinu Thomas emphasized this matter by saying “90 percent of nursing students in the state is from outside Karnataka and if they withdraw the admission, many colleges will have to shut down. Even the students who study here will not get job outside Karnataka and abroad.”

Following this issue, even INC has withdrawn its admission from Karnataka state from the year 2017/18. While Nepali students are in a dilemma about their future, Nepal government, however, has yet to take any initiative to address the problem. 

Moreover, the Nepali embassy in India has also failed to address the issue although Nepali nursing students in India have already filed a letter at the embassy in this regard.

Apart from this, nursing colleges of Bangalore, India are also facing problems. Every year, more than 1,000 students spend hundreds of thousands of rupees with the hope to secure a better future in Bangalore. 

In reality, only a few colleges in Bangalore are providing quality education. Other colleges lack infrastructure, quality education and hospital affiliation for exposure. 

Therefore, Nepali students are requested to properly enquire before joining nursing courses in Karnataka or any state in India because the authorities there may issue other circulars, adding difficulty for the students. 

Anu is a student of BSc nursing in Bangalore.