Private medical colleges in Karnataka have decided to press the government for an increase in fees for the 2019-20 academic year.
Managements of these colleges will meet with officials from the Medical Education Department on Saturday.
They are planning to ask the government to hike the fees for both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. M.R. Jayaram, president of the Karnataka Professional Colleges Foundation, said, “We have made a detailed presentation explaining all our expenditure to show why a fee hike is inevitable.”
For the 2018-19 academic year, the annual tuition fees for MBBS seats was ₹50,000 for government medical colleges, and ₹97,350 and ₹6.83 lakh for government quota and institution quota seats in private medical colleges.
Students who wish to obtain medical or dental seats have to write the UG and PG National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).
Students’ complaint
After the increase in fees last year, several student organisations opposed the move arguing that it was becoming increasingly difficult for students from middle-class families to pursue a medical career.
Mohammed Khalandar, Medical Students’ Struggle Committee member, said the committee would protest and intensify its struggle if the State government decided to increase fees yet again. “While some students give up their ambition to become a doctor, others from lower economic families take education loans,” he said.
The students are also protesting against the State government’s proposal to introduce Non-Resident Indian quota in government medical colleges.
Dental colleges divided
However, private dental college managements are divided on whether they would ask for an increase in fees, as many of the dental seats have been vacant over the past few academic years. “If we increase the fees further, then we will have no takers,” the principal of a private dental college said.
