E-Paper
Private medical colleges in Maharashtra want higher fees despite 25-30% hike
Medical courses, spread across a period of four and half years, would cost almost Rs 21 lakh to Rs 42 lakh with the 25% hike. However, private colleges in Maharashtra, which hold over 2,000 seats, have demanded a further increase of over Rs 50 lakh.
Even after the Fees Regulatory Authority (FRA) declared a hike in the fee structure for medical education, private colleges in the state are demanding higher fees from medical aspirants.
As per the declaration from FRA, almost 25 to 30% increase in the fees for MBBS and BDS was decided. This increase meant that the medical courses, spread across a period of four and half years, would cost almost Rs s21 lakh to Rs 42 lakh. However, private colleges in Maharashtra which hold over 2,000 seats, have demanded a further increase of over Rs 50 lakh.
Private colleges in Maharashtra hold 1,600 seats for MBBS, while for BDS there are 800 seats available. For filling up these seats, the colleges are being said to be charging over Rs 50 lakh, with Rs 1 crore to Rs 2 crore being demanded for NRI students.
“This sort of demand is outrageous and extremely harmful for the aspiring medical students, who come from various backgrounds. Such exorbitant fee structures will crush the dreams of many students who belong to the financially lower backgrounds. How can a farmer’s son or daughter ever dream of becoming a doctor with this rate of fee hike,” said Amir Shaikh, president of National Student’s Union of India (NSUI), Maharashtra region.
Protesting against this, many student unions, including NSUI, have decided to urge the chief minister of Maharashtra and Pravin Shingare, director of the Directorate Medical Education and Research (DMER), to take strict actions.
Bharatiya Vidhyarthi Parishad, Maharashtra Navnirman Vidhyarthi Sena, Yuva Sena, Rashtravadi Yuvak Congress, and many more have joined the struggle against the fee hike.
“Private colleges cannot outrightly play their monopoly here. We will be presenting a memorandum to the collectors of Maharashtra on August 2, and if no strict action is taken to stop them, we have decided to agitate in front of those particular colleges,” Shaikh added.
A look at the colleges:
College: Kashibai Navale College, Pune
Merit quota: 10. 50 lakh
Management Quota: 35 lakh
College: KJ Somaiya College, Mumbai
Merit quota: 9.25 lakh
Management Quota: 35 lakh
College: NKP Salwe, Nagpur
Merit quota: 7.08 lakh
Management Quota: 38.25 lakh
College: Dr Punjabrao Deshmukh, Amravati
Merit quota: 7 lakh
Management Quota: 35 lakh
College: MAEER'S MIT, Talegaon
Merit quota: 6.60 lakh
Management Quota: 33
College: Dr VK Patil, Ahmednagar
Merit quota: 6. 30 lakh
Management Quota: 31.50 lakh
College: Terna College, Mumbai
Merit quota: 5.40 lakh
Management Quota: 27 lakh
