No MBBS seats for poor

Hyderabad: Managements of private medical colleges are upbeat about students failing to furnish bank guarantees for MBBS admissions under management quota. These seats will be shifted to the NRI quota, for which the managements are charging crores.

Students had got seats based on merit in the separate entrance test conducted by private colleges to fill the 35 per cent management quota seats.

To take admission, these students have to pay Rs 9 lakh as fees for the first year and the remaining four years’ fee of Rs 36 lakh as bank guarantees, which students from economically weaker sections cannot afford.

For BDS seats, students have to pay first year fees of Rs 4 lakh and the remaining three years’ fee of Rs 12 lakh as bank guarantees.

All such, cancelled MBBS seats are being converted into NRI quota, which are going for Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.50 crore, making the managements richer by crores.

The deadline to furnish bank guarantees will expire on August 31 and less than half of the students have came forward to submit them.

Students and parents who are approaching colleges and bringing their financial problems to the notice of managements seeking help are being encouraged to cancel their seats and as a consolation, the managements are offering a “decent amount” in return so they can sell the same seat under the NRI quota to other students who can pay up to Rs 1.50 crore.

Students and parents are now requesting the TS government to come to their rescue like the AP government, which has removed the bank guarantee clause for admissions following protests from students and parents.

The TS government is facing the wrath of students and parents for taking decisions in favour of managements, like effecting sharp increase in fees and seats in management and NRI quotas, making medical education accessible only for the rich.

For the first time, it has allowed private medical colleges to conduct their own entrance tests for management quota admissions. Though the aim is to ensure merit in this quota, the fee has been hiked from Rs 2.60 lakh to Rs 9 lakh per year.

Moreover, the management quota seats were increased from 40 per cent to 50 per cent which includes a 15 per cent NRI quota. All these decisions benefitted managements at the cost of students from middle and lower income groups.

The seats were allotted on August 21 and 22 and majority of the students reporting at colleges are going there not to take admission but to request the managements to exempt them from the bank guarantee and take year-wise fees, which is being rejected outright.

About 500 MBBS and 350 BDS seats were allotted and the chances of students taking admissions for even these seats look remote.

As per norms, all vacant seats will get convert into NRI quota for which the government has prescribed fees of Rs 11 lakh per year, while they are being sold for up to Rs 1.50 crore.

While the NRI stipulated quota is only 15 per cent, it is expected to double to 30 per cent due to cancelled seats in management quota getting converted into NRI quota due to the inability of students to furnish bank guarantees.