Telangana rejects fee hike request of private medical colleges

Hyderabad: The Telangana government and managements of private medical colleges are at loggerheads over medical admissions. The representatives of the college managements met chief secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma at the Secretariat on Friday and sought an increase in fees from Rs 60,000 to Rs 3.5 lakh per year for MBBS courses. They also sought common fees for both merit and management quota seats.

Another request was to allow the colleges to conduct their own entrance tests. However, the government rejected all their proposals.

“Common fee structure is already being implemented in engineering, pharmacy, MBA and MCA colleges since the last two years as per Supreme Court directions. Why deny the same thing to medical colleges?” asked C. Malla Reddy, the Malkajgiri MP who also owns medical colleges in the city. Mr Reddy was a part of delegation that met the CS.

The government is worried that if common fee structure is accepted, it will impose  a heavy burden on the state exchequer on account of fee reimbursement scheme, besides making medical education unaffordable for meritorious students from poorer sections. However, the colleges said the government can explore other options such as extending bank loans.