Punjab Medical College reduces fee by Rs 20 lakh to fill vacant NRI seats

Faridkot: NRI quota seats having lost luster in Punjab, has made the management of Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College (SGRDMC), Amritsar, decide to lower its fee for MBBS and dental seats. It hopes to attract the Non Resident Indian flow with this move. Adesh Medical College, Bathinda, the other prominent medical institution in the state has decided to follow suit, say sources.

The SGRDMC, Amritsar has lowered its tuition fee for its MBBS course from $1.1 lakh (Rs 70 lakh) to $95,000 (Rs 60.47 lakh) and also waived the registration fee amounting to $16,500 (Rs 10.5 lakh). The reduction takes off a burden amounting to $31,500 (Rs 20.05 lakh) from the shoulder of the NRI parent. The college offers 23 MBBS seats under its NRI quota.

For its BDS category courses falling under the NRI quota, the college management has decided to offer a hostel fee waiver along with a tuition fee reduction from $44,000 (Rs 28 lakh) to $30,000 (Rs 19.09 lakh).

Adesh Medical College charges $1.25 lakh (Rs 79.5 lakh) for its MBBS courses under the NRI quota. However, after the SGRDMC’s decision to lower its NRI quota fee, Adesh is also considering the same, to keep pace with the resulting competition, claim sources.

The lowering of fee in Sri Guru Ram Das Medical College (SGRDMC), Amritsar, has been the outcome of the college management’s personal initiative; which otherwise, falls in the domain of the Department of Medical Education and Research; the government body meant to fix the fee structure for all government and private colleges in the state.

The primary reason for lowering of fee is the high percentage of vacant seats that are being witnessed in the NRI MBBS and BDS courses in the past years, in the state’s colleges.

Last year, 100 MBBS seats out of 115 and all 202 BDS seats under the NRI quota had remained vacant. Only 29 MBBS aspirants under the NRI quota were found eligible for admission and 15 took admission, reports the Tribune.

Student preference in the case of MBBS courses continues to remain with Ludhiana’s DMCH and the Amritsar college. Of the 15 NRI admissions last year, 13 went the DMCH way and two remained with the Amritsar college.

The Amritsar college in an effort to match the prevailing competition with the DMCH has lowered its NRI quota fee for the current academic year.

Recently the (SGRDMC),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 had the college hogging limelights

Read more at Medical Dialogues: Punjab: Medical College scraps govt quota, hikes tuition fee 4 fold

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