Punjab: Medical College scraps govt quota, hikes tuition fee 4 fold

Faridkot: The Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research,(SGRDIMSR), Amritsar's decision to convert its 75 % government quota MBBS seats to management quota seats and also hike the tution fee from Rs. 13.43 lakh to Rs. 46.10 Lakh has surprised many in the field of medical education . The announcement to this effect was recently made by the college management

The Directorate of Medical Education and Research was to be in for a surprise when as routine proceedings on June 3, it issued a notice to the college asking it to fill its government-quota MBBS seats (75 of the total 150); which was to be done as per old norms. These norms called for 50 per cent seats going the government quota way and the remaining to the management/minority quota; including 15 per cent becoming the NRI quota share, according to the DMER notification.

Meanwhile, the tution fee for the government quota, as per the old norm, was to be Rs 10.43 lakh and Rs. 40.29 lakh- the fixed management/minority-quota seat sum.

The DMER notification got a repartee from the SGRDIMSR in the form of a public notice announcing the tuition fees for 127 of its MBBS seats to be Rs 46.10 lakh, per seat;with 23 of its NRI quota to cost US $ 1,26,500. The college also announced that its registration fee, to be 15 per cent of the total tuition fee, meant to be applicable for all seats.

Responding to the move the said college, DMER Secretary, Vikas Pratap, said “We have no official information about the government-quota seats being brought under the management quota and the three-fold hike in the tuition fee. The process to make admissions in all medical and dental colleges is under way.

Further the DMER, Secretary has asked Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, to question the college on the reason behind this in explicable change, in the face of the fact that it has yet to be granted the status of autonomous university.

Principal, Geeta Sharma, describing the institution as an upcoming autonomous medical university justified the new changes, as part of the soon to be granted autonomous status, which would give it rights to decide its quota division and fee structure.

“Though the statute of converting the medical college into a university is yet to be approved, there is nothing wrong in fixing seats and fees,” she told Tribune, She added that several other colleges on their way to acquiring a university status status, were adopting the same procedure.

BFUHS Vice-Chancellor, Dr Raj Bahadur also expressed the university being ignorant about the college converting its government-quota seats to management quota.