Bathinda docs for cut in fee of pvt medical colleges

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 19

City doctors have urged the state government to cut the “high” fee of private medical colleges run by deemed universities in the state. They demanded an ordinance to regulate the fee of MBBS courses in private medical colleges.

Dr Vitull K Gupta, who is the chairman of the Association of Physicians of India (Malwa branch), has appealed to the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Cabinet Minister OP Soni, and Secretary, Department of Medical Education and Research, DK Tiwari, to reduce the fee of private medical colleges in the state.

Dr Gupta said, “It is frustrating to see the inefficiency and indifferent attitude of the government, which has failed to regulate the fee of MBBS courses in private medical colleges being run by deemed universities. Last year in June, the Punjab Cabinet had decided to regulate the charges of private health sciences universities, so that students don't have to pay an exorbitant fee.People feel that the influence of the powerful lobby of private medical colleges on the government is preventing the latter to take appropriate action."

Dr KK Nohria, a city-based doctor, said, “It has been observed that candidates who get admission to private colleges in the government quota generally have better marks as compared to other students. However, private universities have students with much lower marks. The tuition fee for MBBS students getting admission in the government quota to private colleges is Rs4 lakh, but the same in other quotas is about Rs1 crore.”

He said it was the need of the hour that the state government must take action to cut high fee of private medical colleges as medical education was going out of reach of middle class families.

Dr Harvinder Singh Bakshi, former state secretary of Indian Medical Association, Punjab, said private medical colleges were looting students in the name of capitation fee and the trend had bring down the standard of medical education in the state.

“Merit-wise analysis of MBBS students, who took admission to eight medical colleges in the state on the basis of their performance in NEET in the past, has revealed that the colleges which charge high fee saw candidates with lower marks getting admission. Moreover, though NEET was introduced to encourage the intake of meritorious students in MBBS course, those whose performance is poor are using money power to get admissions,” he added.