Baba Farid University moves National Medical Commission over colleges ‘fleecing’ MBBS students

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, March 15

Some private medical colleges in the state have collected Rs 1.5 crore from 40 final year MBBS students in the name of “providing them with NOC” and allowing them to do one-year-internship from other medical colleges. However, terming it “fleecing” of students, the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) has raised the matter with the National Medical Commission (NMC).

While every medical student owes his one-year internship service to his college after completing the academic part of their MBBS course, the BFUHS has come across many cases where students from private institutions are paying heavy fee to shift to other institutions for their internship.

To give “NOC” to these students for internship in other colleges, some parent colleges have forced students to pay up to Rs 3 lakh per student. These students were also made to pay Rs 60,000 for “NOC” to college where they want to join the internship. Other than paying Rs 3.6 lakh to the parent and receiving colleges, every student has to pay Rs 20,000 to the BFUHS for its approval for shifting of a student for internship.

In a letter to Secretary General, NMC, the BFUHS said many students from private institutions, who got admission on a low percentile, want to shift in top institutions of the state to do their internship. For this shifting of students, some private colleges are forcing them to pay high fee in lieu of NOC, alleges the medical university.

Every internee is paid a monthly stipend by his parent institution, but most of these students don’t get stipend if they opt out of their parent colleges.

“There’s a fixed quota for transfers to and from the colleges for the purpose of internship, so we are not allowing this shifting or migration of students for internship as it is against rules,” said Dr Raj Bahadur, VC, BFUHS.