Madhya Pradesh: AFRC invites students on matters of fee fixation

Bhopal: The Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee(AFRC), has decided to go democratic by involving both private college managements and medical students in Madhya Pradesh on the fee fixation issue. The committee has set February 14, 2017 as the deadline for receiving responses from colleges that had earlier expressed dissatisfaction over the fee fixed by the AFRC. To improve matters, for the first time the fee fixation body has also invited students to participate by giving their suggestion on the issue, which is of utmost concern to them. Incidentally, last month students of a private medical college alleged to have been beaten up by the administrative staff of a private medical college after they objected to the college's arbitrary directive to them, to pay an additional fee of Rs 4 lakh.

Read Also : Advance Institute of Medical Science accused of demanding Excess Rs 4 lakh fee

AFRC had earlier announced the fee structure for medical colleges for the 2016-19 academic session. However, they received vociferous reactions from seven medical colleges who unanimously told the body that the fee decided upon was less than expected. The colleges moved the designated authority in the matter, which in turn asked the AFRC to review its decision.

The fee body has made it clear that the colleges who do not come forth to participate in the reviewing opportunity thrown open to them now, will not be allowed to charge the revised fee later.

According to sources, the ARFC had received several complaints from students on the fee issue. Some of them alleging that private medical colleges were forcing them to pay extra fee. Therefore, the ARFC has decided to involve students by seeking their suggestions, in order to avoid conflict between college authorities and students later.

"Suggestion from students will be important as they have to pay the fee. However, colleges' concern will also be taken into consideration equally," said a committee member, reports TOI.

Last month, the media had reported first year students of Kolar-based Advance Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS), alleging that the college administration was pressurizing them to pay Rs 4 lakh extra, besides the recommended sum of Rs. 5 lac fixed by the fee regulating body. The college supposedly was asking for the additional fee in relation to library, infrastructure, hostel, mess and cultural activities.

However, colleges had consented to not charging any extra fee apart from that decided by AFRC after the committee's intervention in this case.

A hundred and fifty students staged a week long protest strike, when the issue came up. Parents met the college authorities to discuss the matter. Some students even alleged not having been given a receipt for the extra payment made by them, professing that they were threatened and roughed up on the college premises for having asked for it.