The R. Rajendra Babu Fee Regulatory Committee will shortly begin the process of verifying the expenses statements provided by private self-financing medical colleges ahead of fixing a final fee for the MBBS course for the academic year 2017-18.
Mr. Babu told The Hindu here on Tuesday that only 12 colleges had so far submitted the expenses statements. Another 12 are yet to do so. Once all the statements are in, the committee would begin to scrutinise each statement for arriving at a reasonable fee structure.
“The committee does not have adequate staff for this work. We have with us just one chartered accountant. We plan to take on board some more CAs to assist our man. Anyhow, we trust we will arrive at a reasonable fee structure within three months,” Mr. Babu explained.
The committee met here on Tuesday to take stock of the situation arising out of the Supreme Court verdict on Monday on the MBBS fee.
According to Mr. Babu the committee may not be able to repeal the bank guarantee clause since it originates from the apex court. “On Tuesday I met a delegation of parents and students who had come to see me in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict. They were unanimous in their view that even the ₹5 lakh we had fixed as interim fee was excessive. There was no way they could afford a bank guarantee of ₹6 lakh. While some of them said they would have to drop out of the MBBS course, others said suicide was the only way in front of them. We would take the views of such people on board while deciding the final fee structure,” the chairman said.
Caught as it is between the managements, who are buoyed by Monday’s SC verdict, and a sulking government which says it wants to reign in the managements, the committee would have some tightrope walking to do. If it fixes a fee that is closer to the ₹5 lakh it has already notified, the managements would cry foul. If it fixes a fee that is closer to the ₹11 lakh figure, the committee would be accused of caving in to the pressure tactics of the managements.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the MBBS fee in Kerala in the years to come would have its roots in the decision taken by the Fee Regulatory Committee for the academic year 2017-18.
