38 medical students asked by HC to deposit Rs 7 lakh each to medical college

Surat: Terming Rs. 8.97 lakh term fee fixed by the Fee Regulation Committee (FRC), as exorbitant, thirty eight post graduate SMIMER Medical College students following a dispute, have abstained from paying fee for more than a year .

The matter has now reached the Gujarat High Court, after the college authorities in consult with the Surat Municipal Corporation issued notices to the erring students, putting an end to their residency for non payment of dues. The resident doctors and students of the college also approached the court, which in turn has asked them to pay Rs. 7 lakh of the total Rs. 15.16 lakh dues by June 15, the date of the next hearing. The decision regarding the remaining amount will be taken on this date of hearing. The court has meanwhile, issued a directive to the authorities, heeding them not to take any action against the thirty eight students.

The cause of the current problem goes back into May 2015, when the fee regulation committee, in the absence of revised fee, asked the college to take in students on the fee structure of the previous year. The Committee however, was to go in for a revision of fee in July-August and these admissions to post graduate courses took place before that.

After the students paid up in accordance to the prevailing fee structure, the costs were revised and fixed at Rs. 8.97 lakh, which the students refused to accept and pay. Challenging the costs in the High Court, they did not pay for the next two semesters

Meanwhile, termination notices were issued to the non paying students by the college authorities, who approached the court for a stay.

During the hearing, the college advocate Kaushal Pandya argued that students are getting a monthly remuneration of Rs 42,000, while there were others on various scholarships. He informed the court that the college incurred an expense of Rs. 20 lakh every year, on each student, which came from the public exchequer. The advocate also argued that that the students who had already completed four semesters, would be out of the college, after another two; making recovery next to impossible reports TOI.