Maharashtra: Admissions to Private Dental colleges put on hold on fee issue

Mumbai: 40 private medical and dental college admissions in the state have been delayed after the managements sought to raise their fee from what has been prescribed by the Fee Regulatory Authority(FRA). Approximately 1,500 seats in these colleges are unavailable to aspirants as colleges have refused to admit students until their fee restructuring demand is met with.

Medical admissions seem to be ridden with confusion leading to marring of the process. The Association of Managements of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges (AMUPMDC) has written to the state government, asking it not to allot any students, till its demands are met. As a result of this the admission process has come to a halt, till further orders are received. Private institutions might move court , if they fail to get relief on the issue of raising of fee.35 private and unaided medical and dental colleges have been stayed as the colleges have demanded restructuring of fee.

The first selection list of students in government, civic-run colleges and a Wardha-based institute was released on Friday by the
the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) The list was released after the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court, on Thursday, dismissed a petition making students, who have done their class X from outside the state, but have a domicile certificate, eligible.

Of the 2,950 seats available in government colleges, the first list included names of 2,450 aspirants reports TNIE.

The selection list for private medical and dental colleges, however, has been withheld.

"The colleges want to charge fees closer to the figures cited by deemed universities. Their contention is that the Government of India has allowed deemed colleges to charge fees decided by their own fee regulatory authority , which in some ca ses is above Rs 20 lakh, but in their case the state is not allowing them to even charge 'reasonable fees'. They have claimed it is difficult to run their institutes if they charge Rs 7-9 lakh as annual fees," said director, DMER, Pravin Shingare.

P A Inamdar, from the AMUPMDC, said they do not intend to charge excess fees."The Maharashtra Private and Unaided Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees and Admissions) Act, 2015, itself gi ves provisions to differentiate institutions as rural and urban. A college in Mumbai should be treated differently as compared to a college in Jalgaon or Dhule," said Inamdar."We want the FRA, the government and representatives of our association to discuss and find a solution to our problem," he added.

The stalling of the admission process in private colleges has however, upset aspirant parents
"It is a shocking decision. The DMER and parents have to abide by the FRA-approved fee structure. Minutes of meetings are made public. Letters like the one given by the association should not be entertained by the government at this stage. No admission process should be stalled, jeopardizing careers of medical aspirants," said a letter written to the state authorities by parents.

Dr. Shingare informed that negotiations were on with the colleges and efforts were being made to convince them to avoid stalling the admission's process. According to a state government official, there was a demand by private colleges that institutional quota fee also be reviewed. Institutional quota allows them to charge a fee five times the regular fee reports TOI.

The few prominent names among private and unaided colleges that have refused to admit new students are :Terna Medical College, Navi Mumbai, Somaiya Medical College, Mumbai, Kashibai Navale Medical College in Pune and Thorat Medical College, Igatpuri.