The government will move the Supreme Court in appeal against a Kerala High Court order that paved the way for a revision of the fee structure fixed for MBBS admissions by considering the demand of self-financing medical colleges.
The High Court had on November 13 ordered the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) to issue notification of the maximum fee that will be levied by the colleges as proposed by the managements. Based on the order, the CEE on Wednesday issued fee structures of 18 out of 19 self-financing medical colleges that were over thrice what had been fixed by the R. Rajendra Babu Fee Regulatory Committee for medical education in the State.
The committee had earlier finalised an annual fee structure that ranged from ₹6.22 lakh to ₹7.65 lakh in the general category and ₹20 lakh for NRI seats after applying a combined inflation rate of 6.41% to the previous years’ fees.
However, the High Court directed the fee regulatory committee to consider the management’s reasoning that “the hospital has to be treated as a separate establishment of the college, and its profit or loss cannot have any bearing on the fee payable by the students.”
As a result, the CEE has now released a fee structure that ranged from ₹7.65 lakh to ₹20.7 lakh in the general category and from ₹20 lakh to ₹34 lakh for NRI seats. The immense hike has created widespread concern among medical aspirants and guardians, prompting the government to go in appeal against the order.
In a statement, Health Minister K.K. Shylaja accused certain self-financing managements of attempting to disrupt the admission process every year. Such tendencies posed immense challenge to students. She said that senior advocates would be entrusted to represent the State in the apex court.
However, Leader of the Opposition Ramesh Chennithala blamed the government for allegedly colluding with private managements to pave the way for the High Court order. He wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan demanding steps to approach the Supreme Court on the issue.
