Talks for reducing medical fees in self-financing colleges on Monday

Thiruvananthapuram: The government and managements of self-financing colleges will have to work out  a scholarship scheme to reduce fees with the Supreme Court making it clear that cross subsidy is unacceptable.   Sources said that the private medical college managements and the government would hold talks  from Monday to reach a consensus on the fees. However, the managements have demanded  that if the fees for government seats have  to be reduced, it  should agree for a fee hike for NRI quota and management quota seats. The Christian managements have refused to reduce the fees but  agreed to provide a scholarship to the tune of Rs 85 lakh.

Kerala Private Medical College Management Association secretary Anilkumar Vallil told Deccan Chronicle that the  fee increase for NRI and management quota would be decided only after discussions. Earlier,  the fee regulatory committee which allowed the self-financing medical colleges to collect Rs 20 lakh  in 15 percent NRI quota had asked the managements to earmark Rs 5 lakh from this for providing scholarships to BPL students. The fee for MBBS course in private self-financing medical colleges in the state for both  50 percent government quota and 35 percent management quota was provisionally fixed at Rs 5.5 lakh for the 2017-18 academic year by the  fee regulatory committee headed by Justice R. Rajendra Babu .