The Puducherry State Students’ and Parents’ Welfare Association has urged the Fee Committee constituted by the Puducherry government to ensure that fees fixed in private medical colleges and minority-run medical colleges in the Union Territory are on par with fees fixed in private medical colleges in neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
In a memorandum addressed to Justice, T. Sudanthiram, retired Judge of Madras High Court and Chairman of the Fee Committee, V. Bala alias Balasubramanian, president of the Association pointed out that the Tamil Nadu Government had already fixed the fees in private medical colleges and minority-run institutions at ₹4.35 and ₹4.5 lakh respectively.
Though the Fee Committee constituted by the Puducherry Government had increased the fees in private medical colleges in the UT from ₹3.8 lakh to ₹4.8 lakh, this move was temporarily put on hold by Lt. Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N. Rangasamy in view of the pandemic and its economic impact on families.
The Fee Committee should immediately fix the fees in private medical colleges and minority institutions as per the guidelines of the National Medical Commission (NMC) to protect the interests of meritorious students from the UT, the memorandum said. The fee structure should also remain in force for a consecutive period of three years, he said.
The Association also demanded that the Puducherry government obtain 65% and 50% seats in private medical colleges and minority-run medical colleges respectively under the government quota on par with Tamil Nadu. The past governments have not been able to obtain more than 35% of seats. Due to this, students hailing from the Union Territory were deprived of their right to obtain seats under the government quota in the private medical colleges, he said in the memorandum.
