Mahahrashtra: FRA announces MBBS fees for 11 medical colleges, check out details

Mumbai: A relatively small hike in fee for MBBS courses of private medical colleges in Maharashtra has been consented to by the Fee Regulatory Authority(FRA), this year.

Going by the above figures most colleges have been permitted a less than 10% hike and, in some cases, the fee structure is almost similar to that of last year.Of the 17 private medical colleges in the state, 11 institutional fee structures have been released. Last year, things had been different with some colleges being allowed to hike their fee between 1.5 to 2 lakhs.

Following is the summary of the MBBS fees as following

Kashibai Navale in Pune, K J Somaiya Medical College, Mumbai, and even the one-year-old Vedanta Institute of Medical Sciences, Palghar, which were mired in controversy last year for having quoted extreme fee sums among private institutions last year have been put on hold by the FRA this year. Review meetings are to be held between these colleges and the see regulating body before reaching any fee figures for them.

FRA a quasi-judicial body regulating fee of medical colleges (both private and unaided) based on financial statements produced by institutions. Among the 11 private MBBS colleges whose fees for 2018-19 have been announced, that of BKL Walawalkar Rural Medical College, Ratnagiri is the highest resting at Rs 8.4 lakh. It is followed by SMBT Institute, Nashik with a hike of Rs 50,000 and fee up to Rs 8 lakh from the earlier Rs 7.5 lakh. In most of the other colleges, the hike ranges between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, reports TOI.

Meanwhile, Vedanta the only private college established under the Companies Act, which sought Rs 14 lakh fee in the first year of its inception in 2017. Its demand for an exemption from FRA’s jurisdiction. Was overruled by the body which held that as a private and professional institute, the college will have to fall under its jurisdiction.

Vedanta, however, has yet to accept the order and is seeking a review of on the issue.

“FRA is open to a review meeting with all colleges that have a problem with fees decided by the authority. In many cases, there are mistakes in the process of filling data, which will be considered during the review. The process is computerized and the documents are also scrutinized by a separate cell,” said the member to the TOI.

Colleges authorities have described the present fee fixtures as ‘unfair’ to them. A college official quoted their expectations at Rs 11-12 lakhs keeping in mind their expenditures, thereby describing the present fixtures as disappointing.

“They cannot have a uniform process to decide the fee structure of all colleges. Some of the colleges in big cities spend a lot on infrastructure and land and their expenses are doubled. They cannot follow a set computerized process for all,” said the official.

The body approves the tuition and development fees of the colleges. The colleges are allowed to charge additional hostel or mess fees he further added.