Govt plans to end fee disparity in medical colleges

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 18

Seeking to end disparity in the fee structure and quota for seats in various courses in private medical, dental, homeopathic and ayurvedic colleges in the state, the Medical Education and Research Department has proposed to amend the rules in the Punjab Private Health Sciences Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Fee and Making of Reservation) Act, 2006, so that all such institutions are governed under uniform legislation with respect to fee, reservations and admissions.

After publishing the proposed Bill on February 14, the department is going to present it in the upcoming Vidhan Sabha session for ratification.

So far, various private medical institutions and universities are in a conflict with the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and the state government over the fixation of their independent fee structure.

Under the Bill, the state government shall regulate the admission, fix fee and reserve seats for different categories in private health sciences educational institutions.

Some private medical institutions are involved in litigation with the state government and BFUHS over the fixation of their fee structure and reservation.

While three government medical colleges in the state charge Rs 4.4 lakh as full-course tuition fee for the MBBS, in some private medical colleges it is up to Rs 70 lakh.

In June, 2019, the Punjab Cabinet had announced its decision to regulate the fee structure of private medical universities by amending the Punjab Private Health Sciences Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Fee and Making of Reservation) Act, 2006, by promulgating an ordinance so the fee could be fixed by the state government which would be applicable to private universities also.

While an MBBS student in the state is being forced to pay between Rs 50-70 lakh for the entire course in private universities, there is a talk of bringing it down to between Rs 10-15 lakh, including the hostel fee, said Dr Vitull K Gupta, health and human rights activist, and chairman, API Malwa branch.

The issue of regulation of MBBS fee dates back to 2003 when the Supreme Court had directed the states to enact a law to regulate the fee of all professional colleges. Punjab had constituted a committee under a retired High Court judge to suggest the ways and means to regulate the fee. In 2006, Punjab had enacted the Punjab Private Health Sciences Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission, Fixation of Fee and Making of Reservation) Act, that allowed the government to regulate the fee.

However, two private medical universities fixed their own fee structure, claiming that they did not fall in the ambit of the Act. That is why the government has to amend the existing Act to bring the deemed universities under the ambit of the Act where fee can be regulated by the government, said Dr Gupta.