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No let-up in fee hikes, MBBS getting costlier in Punjab every year
After fee hike, MBBS course fee in private medical colleges under management quota up by ₹4.90 lakh in two years
With a hike of 5% in the fee of MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) courses annually in the government and private medical colleges in the state, medical education is getting costlier in Punjab when there is an acute shortage of doctors, especially in the government sector.
Rahul Gupta, additional secretary, department of medical education and research, has announced the revised fee structure in the new notifications for admission to MBBS and BDS courses in the state for 2022 session onwards, with a 5% hike in MBBS courses fee.
A part of the reason why India is short of doctors is that medical education is expensive and those who have the means to acquire it either prefer to work in private health facilities in the country or migrate overseas, said experts, citing how the increasing fees in government medical colleges in the country is keeping the poor but deserving students out while creating health-services inequality between urban and rural areas.
In 2020, the Congress government had increased the MBBS course fee in its state-run medical colleges by 78%--from ₹4.4 lakh previously to ₹7.81 lakh--for the 2019-20 session. It had also directed in the notification that fee will be increased annually by 5% for five years for subsequent batches in all government and private health sciences educational institutes and fee will be reviewed again after five years.
With consecutive hikes in two last years, the fee for MBBS courses in government medical colleges at Amritsar, Patiala, and Faridkot, which was ₹7.82 lakh in 2020, has been increased to ₹8.62 lakh for the full course (this session fee). ₹81,000 hike has made it more difficult for poor students to get into medical education.
The same year, ending the disparity in the fee structure for MBBS, MD, MS, BDS and MDS courses in private medical and dental colleges in the state the department of medical education and Research had announced a uniform fee structure bringing down fee in some private medical colleges significantly.
However, the relief seems to be short-lived with a ₹4.90 lakh hike for management quota seats and ₹1.90 lakh for government quota seats in private medical colleges in the last two years in Dayanand Medical College (DMC) and Punjab Institute of Medica Sciences at Jalandhar.
As per the fresh notification, the MBBS full course fee, which was ₹50.10 lakh for a management quota seat in private medical colleges in 2020, has been increased to 52.60 lakh. However, for a government quota seat, it has been revised from ₹18.55 lakh to ₹19.48 lakh to ₹20.45 lakh. In 2020, the fee for the management quota was 47.70 lakh and ₹18.55 lakh for the government quota.
Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health Sciences, Amritsar, can charge also ₹52.60 lakh for both open merit (50%) and minority quota (50%) students. Which was also ₹47.70 lakh in 2020.
The fee for Adesh Medical University, Bathinda is subject to a writ petition in Punjab and Haryana high court. While Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, has not changed the fee structure for the MBBS course. Its fee remains ₹6.60 lakh per year with a 10% increase every year.
Former vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) Dr SS Gill said that the financial burden on students will impact the quality of the doctors as many deserving students will not be able to afford it. “The government must lay out a plan for this otherwise meritorious students from financially disadvantaged families would be discouraged and the rich will get admissions,” he added.
