Unable to pay fee, 2 medical college students drop out
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 7
Less number of seats and high cost of education in government medical institutions across the state seem to have put students, who are from economically weaker families and wish to study medicine, reconsider their options. In a latest example, two students of Government Medical College, Amritsar, shared their helplessness in paying their semester fee due to limited family income and decided to drop out of the MBBS programme. They are first year students. Both the students, falling in general category, had taken admission in Government Medical College, Amritsar considering the lower fee structure of government-run medical colleges over private colleges. But owing to their failure to arrange semester fee, which comes to be Rs 95,500 per semester, they informed one of their mentors at the college about their decision to drop out.
Coming to their aid, Voice of Amritsar, a non-profit organisation functioning on a volunteer basis in city, arranged to raise funds to pay their fee. Within a span of three days, VOA members handed over the required amount for both the girls to the Principal, GMC, Dr Rajiv Devgan.
Sharing her story, one of the students Parul (name changed) said, “My father works at a shop and my mother is a housewife. When I decided to pursue my dream of becoming a doctor and study medicine, I prepared for competitive exams through self-study, to save money on coaching. Also, I cleared NEET hoping to get admission into AIIMS or any Central-run institution as their fee structure is very low. But eventually, I got admission in GMC, Amritsar. When I got selected in MBBS in GMC, my father told me that he would not be able to pay my fees. Considering my family’s financial situation, I was forced to sacrifice my dream.”
Happy that she can now pursue her dream of becoming a cardiac surgeon, Parul said, “Becoming a doctor was my passion, my dream. Despite being aware of my family’s finances, my mother’s motivation and courage had kept me going. Now with this support, further goals are still sky-high and I will pursue that.” The other students too shared her joy over not having to drop out and sacrifice a dream that she had worked so hard for.
“There are many students like us, who fall in general category and face financial challenges as the fee structure in government-run medical education is high. The private medical institutions may charge even higher. While there are so many subsidies or exemptions for students of reserved categories in terms of fees, books etc, students from General category and economically weaker families get no financial help or fee waiver, whether it is academic fee or cost of books, hostel and other expenses,” said Parul.
Rajiv Devgan, principal of GMC, said there was no provision for scholarship or fee waiver for students of any category in government medical colleges, to aid them in their education. “Sometimes, we have to ask for voluntary help ,” he said.
High medical course fee
The fee for government-run medical colleges in state is between Rs 95,000—Rs 1,00,000 (excluding other expenses like food, hostel and books) per semester. As a round figure, it comes out to be anything between Rs 8-9 lakh (all expenses included) for a four-year MBBS course. For private medical colleges, it is between Rs 40-60 lakh or more.
