PG medical fee pricey in deemed universities

KOCHI: The PG medical seats in India’s deemed universities remain beyond the reach of ordinary people in the absence of fee regulation. Though the Union government brought the PG admissions under NEET for the first time this year, it failed to appoint a fee regulatory committee at the national level. The fee remains prohibitively high, and in such a wide range of Rs 19 to 50 lakh for the main courses. One of them, the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, has an unbelievably high monthly hostel fee of Rs 2 lakh.

According to the medical counselling committee website the annual fee for different deemed varsities are, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi - MS Anatomy and MD Community Medicine- Rs 11 lakh and MD Pathology– Rs 20 lakh, M.M. Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Mullana, Ambala, Haryana – Rs 29.95 lakh; SBKS Medical College and Research Centre, Vadodara, Gujarat – '24.50 lakh; Kasturba Medical College Manipal, Karnataka – Rs 24.41 lakh; JSS Medical College, Mysur- Rs 23.12 lakh; Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Belgavi, Karnataka- Rs 25 lakh; 

SDU Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka – Rs 25 lakh; K S Hegde Medical Academy, Mangaluru- Rs 28.08 lakh; Yenepoya Medical College, Mangaluru – Rs 30 lakh; Sri Sidhartha Medical College, Tumkur, Karnataka – Rs 22 lakh; Sri BM Patil Medical College, Vijayapura, Karnataka –Rs 34 lakh; Amrita Institute of Medical Science, Kochi-Rs 28 lakh; Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad, Maharashtra – Rs 24 lakh; Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune –Rs 28 lakh; BVDU Medical College, Sangli, Maharashtra – Rs 22 lakh; Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, Maharashtra – Rs 31.70 lakh; MGM Medical College, Aurangabad and Navi Mumbai – Rs 25 lakh.

The annual fee for Dr DY Patil Medical College, Pune is Rs 28 lakh; D. Y. Patil Medical College, Kolhapur- Rs 36 lakh; D. Y. Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai – Rs 45 lakh; Pravara Rural Medical College, Loni, Maharashtra – Rs 24.50 lakh; Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital – Rs 19.80 lakh; Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences – Rs 20 lakh; MG Medical College and Research Institute, Puducherry –Rs 48 lakh; Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute, Kancheepuram – Rs 45 lakh; SRM Medical College, Chennai – Rs 50 lakh; Saveetha Medical College, Chennai – Rs 40 lakh; Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai – Rs 20 lakh; VMKV Medical College, Salem – Fee not given; Shri Sathya Sai Medical College, Kancheepuram – Rs 45 lakh; Shree Balaji Medical College, Chennai – Fee not given; Meenakshi Medical College, Kancheepuram – Rs 50 lakh. 

Vinayaka Mission Medical College,  Aarupadai Veedu Medical College, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, all Puducherry, have not given fees while Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, has asked students to remit Rs 25 lakh at the time of admission itself while no annual fee is specified.  DY Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai has also asked students to pay Rs 50 lakh at the time of admission apart from the exorbitant annual fees. The yearly hostel fee is Rs 2.6 lakh. Pravara Rural Medical College, Loni, has sought Rs 24.6 lakh at the time of admission.

Experts feel Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) allotments to deemed universities based on NEET PG will ensure transparency. But it remains a mystery after that round.  "The fees remain in a wide range which goes unexplainable, and it is beyond the reach of common man," said Dr S. Rajookrishnan, former joint commissioner of entrance examinations, Kerala. "A fee regulatory committee should assess the sector and bring a reasonable fee structure for all deemed varsities.”