Medical students urge CM to roll back MBBS fee hike in Punjab

As per the cabinet decision of May 27, the fee for a full five-year course in government-run medical colleges from this session will be ₹7.8 lakh – a hike of around 80% from the previous ₹4.4 lakh

AMRITSAR: The students of Government Medical College (GMC) here on Sunday wrote to chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, medical education and research minister O P Soni and the ministry family and health welfare, urging them to reduce MBBS fee in the state.

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As per the cabinet decision of May 27, the fee for a full five-year course in government-run medical colleges from this session will be ₹7.8 lakh – a hike of around 80% from the previous ₹4.4 lakh.

Amritsar medical students’ association president Dr Vaibhav Chawla said, “The decision of fee hike has aroused immense despair among the medical fraternity. The move will make medical education impossible for the middle class and economically weaker strata. We request the CM to roll back the MBBS fee in Punjab.”

Other disgruntled members of the association claimed the government had earlier hiked the fee by 160% in 2015. “Now 5 years later, again a hike of 80% has been announced, which is a clear violation of the Supreme Court orders prohibiting any institution from increasing the fee beyond 15% in a minimum of three years. Punjab has hiked MBBS fee twice within 4 years,” they said.