A RECENT government order asking private medical colleges to offer 50% of their seats at rates equivalent to those prevailing in government colleges could be counter-productive and result in massive hike in fees for the other half of the seats, Maharashtra’s biggest association of private medical and dental colleges has argued.
The Association of Managements of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges (AMUPMDC) said this move could even force the closure of several colleges. “It will dramatically increase the fee structure for the other half of the students, and we are unlikely to get students willing to pay such high fees. So, if the government does not offer us support, there was this likelihood of several colleges shutting down,” Dr Ashish Deshmukh, Secretary of AMUPMDC, told The Indian Express.
The National Medical Commission, the regulatory body for medical education in the country, had, in a recent notification, ordered that at least 50% seats in private medical colleges must only charge fees that are applicable in government colleges. On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it a “major decision” for the students coming from poor and middle-income households.
However, Deshmukh argued that this could be counter-productive, and that he had already flagged this issue at a meeting with Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya two weeks ago.
“This will result in a steep increase in the fee structure. Do we have the capacity to pay the overall (increased) cost of medical education in the country? This issue has to be tackled by NMC and a policy has to be put in place,” he said. But the Indian Medical Association has welcomed the government decision.
“Private Medical Colleges with the costly fee structures have made medical education impossible and unaffordable for deserving poor students. Limited medical seats in government colleges, and skyrocketing fees in private colleges is the situation in the country. These facts are forcing students to go abroad for medical education. Ongoing evacuation process of Indian medical students from war-torn Ukraine has exposed these facts,” Mangesh Pate, secretary of the Maharashtra chapter of IMA said in a statement.
Dr Pravin Shingare, former Director of Medical Education and Research in Maharashtra pointed out the government move would have the effect of one student paying for the cost of the other.