Two pvt medical colleges firm: No govt quota seats

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, June 14

Denying 50 per cent of their MBBS seats as government quota, two private medical colleges have announced their own ‘hiked’ fee structure in the state.

The fee structure and seat distribution for MBBS course announced by the SGPC-run medical college in Amritsar and a private medical college in Bathinda are at variation with the structure notified by the state government on February 6.

The Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) is to conduct a centralised counselling on the basis of this notification to fill MBBS seats in state medical colleges in July.

Aspirants are in confusion after Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College and Adesh Medical College announced their hiked fee structure and said they would not offer any of their total 300 MBBS seats as government quota seats.

However, Minister for Medical Education and Research Brahm Mohindra justified the fee hike and the denial of government quota seats in the colleges as a step to make them financially viable.

“Two private medical colleges in the state, Gian Sagar and Chintpurni college, are already closed as they failed to arrange the required finance,” said the minister.

Retaining 128 of its total 150 MBBS seats as management quota seats, Bathinda-based Adesh Medical College has fixed its tuition fee at Rs 63.94 lakh for full course. For the remaining 22 NRI quota seats, the fee is US $1.25 lakh.

Similarly, Amritsar-based Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College has fixed Rs 46.33 lakh as tuition fee for its 128 management quota seats. Fee for NRI seats is US $1.10 lakh.

As per a state government notification on February 6, all private medical institutions have to retain 50 per cent of their seats as government quota and 50 per cent seats as management quota (including 15 per cent NRI seats). While the fee for government quota seat in a private college is fixed at Rs 13.43 lakh for a full course, it is Rs 40.29 lakh for management quota and US $1.1 lakh for an NRI quota seat.

GPI Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Adesh Medical University, claimed that being an autonomous university, it had the right to frame its statutes, ordinances and regulations and fee fixation for its college under the Adesh University Act. “The notification is wrong at many levels and we have already written to the state government to amend it,” he said.

The authorities at the Sri Guru Ram University of Health Sciences also expressed similar views, claiming they have full authority to prescribe the fee structure and seat distribution under the Sri Guru Ram Das University of Health Science Ordinance.