Kerala: Govt-medical college nexus hinted at by Chennithala

Kozhikode: The exorbitant fee charged by the self-financing medical colleges has been described to be a conspiracy between the management of these colleges with the state government by the Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala.

Speaking at a press conference at the DCC office recently, the opposition leader also alleged collusion between the state and the college managements pointing out to the state government's delay in the commencement of the allotment process by a month. The delay was allowed despite the high court permitting the government to fix Rs five lakh as the annual fee on July 17.

"Instead of immediately starting the allotment, the chief minister's office went on holding talks with managements which didn't yield any results but gave the managements enough time to move the court against the court order. The cut-throat fees for MBBS courses have made medical education out of reach for students from underprivileged families," he told TOI.

Chennithala called for the government to file a review petition against Monday's Supreme Court order fixing the fee for MBBS courses at Rs 11 lakh, including bank guarantee of Rs six lakh.

He further asked the state government to take immediate steps to ensure that no student was denied admission due to non-submission of bank guarantee by college managements.

"The state government should either provide bank guarantees for students or ensure that students get it without any hassles through bank facilities," he said.

Chennithala welcomed the Christian Medical Management Association, stand on continuing to ask for an annual fee at Rs 5 lakh, despite the Supreme Court’s interim order of 11 lakhs

He also brought to light the fact that the previous fee hike during the UDF government’s tenure had been a mere Rs 47,000.