Students of the Government Cuddalore Medical College Hospital staged a sit-in at the Directorate of Medical Education on Wednesday, demanding that tuition fee for the current academic year be collected on a par with other State government medical colleges.
The students are boycotting the exams that Annamalai University, to which the colleges were earlier affiliated, had announced.
The student council of the erstwhile Rajah Muthaiah Medical College and Hospital and the Rajah Muthaiah Dental College and Hospital have made a representation to the DME requesting that the government conduct exams for the current batch of students by the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University as per Government Order 45 issued on February 1.
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The students pointed out that the government had in the GO said the colleges had been handed over to the Health and Family Welfare Department from the Higher Education Department with immediate effect.
The State government had said that the fees should be fixed on a par with other government medical and dental colleges.
Yet, Annamalai University had demanded tuition fee fixed by the fee fixation committee in 2018-19 and it was 30 times higher than that of government colleges.
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The government could take steps to fix reasonable fees for academic years 2019-2020 and 2020-21, the students said.
Since the colleges had been handed over to the Health Department, Annamalai University could not demand fees from students, they said. Annamalai University had withheld the results of examinations and certificates pending payment of the entire fee, the students said.
Results and certificates of students from 2013 to 2020 and of the students currently enrolled were also withheld, according to the council. The university had also not paid stipend to PG students for the last two years, they claimed.