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Hi all,
This pertains to those who have applied for J1 waiver/clearance/NORI from the HRD within the past 6 months or so. I'm pretty sure that all of you must've got the clearances from your concerned local passport office as well as the state home dept. and more importantly I am sure that none of you would have got any response as of yet from the HRD ministry. I am one of those unfortunate applicants who has been waiting for an eternity to get his NORI clearance from the HRD ministry. I had applied way back in 2012 and due to some detailed confusion (which is beyond the scope of this post) I am still waiting for the HRD to push things at their end. But recently I managed to learn of the reason for this hold-up from the HRD ministry and is a recent thing that has been going on only for a few months.
I managed to a get a copy of an intra-departmental communication from the HRD ministry to the Health Ministry (MOH & FW) dated the 23rd May 2014. In a nutshell MEDICAL PRACTIONERS - AND THIS REFERS TO ANYONE WHO HAS A MEDICAL DEGREE (MBBS) REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY ARE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE OR NOT, have to obtain their clearances from the MOH. But the MOH has stopped granting clearances and NORIs to everyone from the medical field even if they are involved only in research (sorry folks) and this info is available on the MOH website.
Non Medical PhDs (such as myself) need only a clearance from the HRD ministry. But due to this notification from the MOH, which again specifically pertains only to medical doctors, THE HRD HAS STOPPED ISSUING NORIs TO EVERYONE IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND. But since this info was never made public, it seems they have been continuously receiving applications for NORIs (and I suspect its mostly PhDs). Then comes this above communication where right now, the HRD is asking for a clarification from the MOH on this issue and also the communication contained close to 70 names whose NORI applications are currently pending before the HRD. I recognized a few of those as former colleagues and friends and managed to get in touch with them (I finished my PhD in Biochem from AIIMS, New Delhi in 2010, by the way). Anyhow the situation is currently in a limbo as no further info is being provided by either the HRD or the MOH.
The real frustrating part here is that there was no need for the HRD to needlessly confuse the issues of non medical and medical NORIs as the MOH circular clearly and explicitly mentions doctors (MBBS). But of course now that it has managed to complicate and muddle up this simple issue, it has only pushed this issue into endless red-tape. The present situation dictates a response from the MOH to the HRD over this communication devoid of which any progress or action can be expected for us!!! I wonder what would happen if the MOH decides to say NO to PhDs as well!!! (don't even want to think of such a situation!!!!)
I wonder if anyone else in this forum or your colleagues have any further info regarding this situation? If so please do respond to this post or put up the info elsewhere in this forum? Because right now I am really confused as to what can be done and I do not have much time left on my J1 as well.
Cheers
Gopal Ramakrishnan, PhD
Univ of Mississippi Medical Centre
This pertains to those who have applied for J1 waiver/clearance/NORI from the HRD within the past 6 months or so. I'm pretty sure that all of you must've got the clearances from your concerned local passport office as well as the state home dept. and more importantly I am sure that none of you would have got any response as of yet from the HRD ministry. I am one of those unfortunate applicants who has been waiting for an eternity to get his NORI clearance from the HRD ministry. I had applied way back in 2012 and due to some detailed confusion (which is beyond the scope of this post) I am still waiting for the HRD to push things at their end. But recently I managed to learn of the reason for this hold-up from the HRD ministry and is a recent thing that has been going on only for a few months.
I managed to a get a copy of an intra-departmental communication from the HRD ministry to the Health Ministry (MOH & FW) dated the 23rd May 2014. In a nutshell MEDICAL PRACTIONERS - AND THIS REFERS TO ANYONE WHO HAS A MEDICAL DEGREE (MBBS) REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY ARE IN CLINICAL PRACTICE OR NOT, have to obtain their clearances from the MOH. But the MOH has stopped granting clearances and NORIs to everyone from the medical field even if they are involved only in research (sorry folks) and this info is available on the MOH website.
Non Medical PhDs (such as myself) need only a clearance from the HRD ministry. But due to this notification from the MOH, which again specifically pertains only to medical doctors, THE HRD HAS STOPPED ISSUING NORIs TO EVERYONE IRRESPECTIVE OF THEIR EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND. But since this info was never made public, it seems they have been continuously receiving applications for NORIs (and I suspect its mostly PhDs). Then comes this above communication where right now, the HRD is asking for a clarification from the MOH on this issue and also the communication contained close to 70 names whose NORI applications are currently pending before the HRD. I recognized a few of those as former colleagues and friends and managed to get in touch with them (I finished my PhD in Biochem from AIIMS, New Delhi in 2010, by the way). Anyhow the situation is currently in a limbo as no further info is being provided by either the HRD or the MOH.
The real frustrating part here is that there was no need for the HRD to needlessly confuse the issues of non medical and medical NORIs as the MOH circular clearly and explicitly mentions doctors (MBBS). But of course now that it has managed to complicate and muddle up this simple issue, it has only pushed this issue into endless red-tape. The present situation dictates a response from the MOH to the HRD over this communication devoid of which any progress or action can be expected for us!!! I wonder what would happen if the MOH decides to say NO to PhDs as well!!! (don't even want to think of such a situation!!!!)
I wonder if anyone else in this forum or your colleagues have any further info regarding this situation? If so please do respond to this post or put up the info elsewhere in this forum? Because right now I am really confused as to what can be done and I do not have much time left on my J1 as well.
Cheers
Gopal Ramakrishnan, PhD
Univ of Mississippi Medical Centre
