Karnataka: Common counselling impact - PG medical course fee drops drastically

Bengaluru: It’s a huge climbdown for private medical colleges in the state. An MD Radiology seat that they charged upto Rs 5 crore for under the Non Resident India (NRI) quota in the past, is now going for a fee of between RS 46.12 lakh and Rs 95 lakh.

The colleges have no choice but to cut down on their fee drastically with the Union Health Ministry deciding to fill their NRI and management quota seats through common counselling done by the state-owned Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA).

Now that all NRI and management quota medical MD/MS/ Diploma seats are being filled based on the NEET score cards of students, it has become impossible for the colleges to sell them through designated agents. This marks a huge departure from the past when even colleges, which lacked proper clinical facilities, had charged in crores to ensure that a candidate got his MD certificate irrespective of his performance in the practical and university examinations.

With the government’s nod now being mandatory for the fee they charge, colleges have been left with no option but to toe its line.At the private Jagadguru Sri Shivarathreeswara Medical College in Mysuru an MD radiology seat is now available for just Rs 46.12 lakhs under the NRI quota and at the B M Patil Medical College, Bijapur the same seat is going for Rs 50.55 lakh. The Jaya Jagadguru Murugharajendra Medical College, Davangere, is charging a fee of Rs 57 lakh for the seat and the MS Ramaiah college in the city, Rs 90 lakhs. At KIMS the fee is Rs 70 lakh and at the MR Medical College, Kalaburgi, it is Rs 65 lakh. KVG Sulia charges a fee of Rs 75 lakhs and the BR Ambedkar college, Bengaluru, Rs 61,18,700 for the seat. The SSIM, Davanagere charges a fee of Rs 52,22,850, the Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot Rs 75 lakh, and JNMC Rs 95 lakhs etc.