Why Are India's Future Doctors Paying for Apps?

October 04, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

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India’s medical education is facing a crisis: ghost faculty, high MBBS fees, and inadequate clinical exposure are prompting students to turn to apps and pirated lectures. Read on!

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Sonam Wangchuk's Visit To Pakistan: What We Know So Far

As agencies pore over Sonam Wangchuk's foreign ties and affiliations, a visit to Pakistan by the educator cum activist has attracted a lot of scrutiny on social media. 

The Bharatiya Janata Party and its leaders including IT cell head, Amit Malviya, posted a reel claiming Ladakh activist Wangchuk has links to Pakistan, citing his visit to Islamabad earlier this year. 

Why did Sonam Wangchuk visit Pakistan? 

Wangchuk attended Breathe Pakistan 2025 organised by Dawn Media, government of Pakistan and the United Nations. The event conducted from February 6-7, 2025 was held in Islamabad, Pakistan. 

Wangchuk’s speech in Pakistan: Climate change and a nod to Modi 

In his remarks at the event, Wangchuk, spoke about the shared Himalayan water systems between India, Pakistan, Nepal urging the need for regional cooperation. 

Describing India’s work in climate policy, Wangchuk praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s renewable energy initiatives Wangchuk also wished more global leaders followed PM Modi’s footsteps. Read more about what we know so far in Nivedita Niranjankumar’s fact-check.

DECODE

India’s Future Doctors Pay Colleges For Degree, Apps For Education

A dream derailed: When Manish Kumar walked into Government Medical College Bettiah, Bihar, in 2020, it was meant to be the culmination of three years of grueling NEET prep. Instead, the dream soured quickly. Lectures were rare, professors often absent, and hands-on training—the essence of becoming a doctor—was treated as optional. 

Finding education in apps: The solution came not from his college, but from his phone. Like nearly all his classmates, Manish subscribed to Marrow, one of India’s dominant medical learning apps. His tuition fee for five years was Rs 90,000. His annual subscription for the app: Rs 50,000. 

Manish isn't alone. Educational apps, which were meant to be supplementary, have become India’s future doctors’ syllabus and classroom.

As Harshit Kumar from BHU put it bluntly: “We go to college only because 75% attendance is mandatory. I pay my college for the degree and the app for education.”

Know more about the app business in Vipul Kumar’s report.

Interview: An Odisha Farmer Has Been Barred From Filing RTI For A Year

Since its enactment in 2005, India’s Right to Information (RTI) Act has been one of the few laws that truly let citizens pry into the workings of government, demand accountability, and expose corruption. Yet, recent events suggest that the very machinery built for openness is inching toward dysfunction. 

Recently in Odisha, the State Information Commission took an extraordinary step: it barred Chittaranjan Sethy, 51, a farmer from Mateipur panchayat in Puri district, from filing any new RTI applications for an entire year. 

His “offence”?: Filing 61 requests seeking detailed information on local income, expenditure, and development works. Although he received responses and opportunities to inspect documents, the Commission described his persistence as “repetitive” and an “abuse of the RTI process”.

Read the edited excerpts from Hera Rizwan’s conversation with Chittaranjan Sethy, who spoke about why he filed those RTIs, what the ban means to him, and why he won’t stop asking questions.

EXPLAINED

Jobs, Representation, And The Sixth Schedule: Why Is Ladakh Protesting?

Following Ladakh's conversion to a Union Territory in August 2019, its largely tribal population has repeatedly made demands for statehood and Sixth Schedule; safeguards to protect land and jobs. The demand led by the Leh Apex Body, Kargil Democratic Alliance and others garnered massive support from activists like Sonam Wangchuk who spearheaded the movement. 

On September 26, the protests turned violent leading to Wangchuk’s detention under the National Security Act for disrupting public order. 

Beyond questions of constitutional status, everyday frustrations are also feeding the movement. Before 2019, Ladakhis had access to jobs across the wider state of Jammu & Kashmir. The reorganisation cut off those opportunities, leaving residents reliant on a smaller, more uncertain job market within Ladakh itself. Hera Rizwan explains why Ladakh matters and its protest history.

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍  A digitally altered video was shared on social media falsely claiming that Ladakh Director General of Police (DGP) S.D. Singh Jamwal admitted that activist Sonam Wangchuk has been detained “without any evidence” on the instruction of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Read 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍  Did Sonam Wangchuk say will turn India into Nepal and Bangladesh? Find out in 🔗 Anmol Alphonso’s ↗️  fact-check.

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