Fees for MBBS, BDS courses to be hiked 30 pc

Fees for MBBS, BDS courses to be hiked 30 pc
PRAFULLA MARPAKWAR

MUMBAI, JUNE 26: After a massive increase in the fees for engineering andpharmacy courses, a steep hike in the fees for medical and dental courses isnow on the cards.

The fees for MBBS and BDS courses will be hiked by atleast 30 per cent.``The existing fee of payment seat for the MBBS course will be increasedfrom Rs 1.10 lakh to Rs 1.40 lakh, while fees for a free seat will beenhanced from Rs 13,000 to Rs 17,000. The fees for dental courses will alsobe increased in similar proportions,'' a senior official from theDirectorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) said.

Regarding fees for the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) seats, the official said itwill be increased from Rs 5.50 lakh to Rs eleven lakh. The quota for NRIseats is 15 per cent of the total seats in a private medical college.

``On the basis of the recommendations made by a high-level committee headedby Dayanand Dongaonkar, Vice-Chancellor, Maharashtra University of HealthSciences, we have submitted a proposal to the centre. We expect that therevised fee structure, which will be finalised by the centre, will beimplemented from the ensuing academic session,'' the official said.

The official said the Supreme Court had in 1997-98 prescribed acomprehensive mechanism for revising the fee structure for free as well aspayment seats. It had recommended that the fees should be revised everythree years on the basis of the recommendations made by a high-levelcommittee to be set by the state government.

Regarding the demands made by private medical college, the official saidinitially the panel had submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister VilasraoDeshmukh, saying that the revised fee structure should be based on the costof teaching per student. From the official records, the cost of teaching perstudent is Rs four lakh.

But Deshmukh had rejected the demand. Instead, he had asked them to have adiscussion with Chief Secretary Arun Bongirwar regarding the revised freestructure.

A majority of private medical colleges are directly or indirectly controlledby leading politicians. Prominent among them are Energy Minister PadamsinhPatil, Industries Minister Patangrao Kadam, Food and Civil Supplies MinisterDatta Meghe, Housing Minister Rohidas Patil, Union Minister Balasaheb VikhePatil and former Health Minister Daulatrao Aher.

``Under the Congress-led Democratic Front government, we face a piquantsituation. Since most of the colleges are controlled by the cabinet members,we have to give them top priority. The situation during the Sena-BJP rulewas completely different, because only Aher directly controlled a medicalcollege,'' the official said.