Madhya Pradesh becomes first state to implement NMC Order on Govt fee for 50 percent private medical college seats

Bhopal: In a first, the much talked about National Medical Commission order implementing Government fee in 50 percent private medical college seats is now being implemented in Madhya Pradesh for Post Graduate medical admission.

Confirming this, the State Director of Medical Education has clarified in a recent notice that after removing 15% NRI quota seats, the fees for the 42.5 percent of the remaining 85 percent general pool seats would be at par with the fees of Government medical colleges.

"This is for information to all NEET PG 2022 qualified and eligible candidates who intend to participate in MP State Combined NEET PG Counselling 2022, that after removing 15% NRI quota seats from the total intake capacity seats of private medical college, admissions on 42.5% of the remaining 85% general pool seats shall be at par with the prevailing annual fee of government medical college," read the DME notice.

"Admission on remaining 42.5% seats shall be as per the annual fee fixed by AFRC (Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee) or MPPURC (Madhya Pradesh Private University Regulatory Commission)," it added.

Also Read: With DMER being silent on NMC Fee Order, Punjab MBBS aspirants in Dilemma

While Madhya Pradesh became the first state to implement the NMC fee order, there are still chances that the direction gets challenged before the Court, following the patterns in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the private medical colleges and Deemed-to-be Universities were not happy with the NMC fee order issued back in February 2022. The concerned Office Memorandum of NMC had stated that, "After extensive consultations, it has been decided that the fee of the 50 per cent seats in the private medical colleges and deemed universities should be at par with the fee in the government medical colleges of that particular State and UT. The benefit of this fee structure would be first made available to those candidates who have availed government quota seats, but are limited to the extent of 50 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of the respective medical college/deemed university."

"However, if the government quota seats are less than 50 per cent of total sanctioned seats, the remaining candidates would avail the benefit of a fee equivalent to the government medical college fees, based purely on the merit," the Commission had added.

While such a move definitely brought relief to a section of medical aspirants who choose to leave India and move abroad for cheaper medical education, such a rule fails to take into consideration the plights of the private medical college managements who pay lakhs and crores of money to set up the infrastructure.

Therefore, upset with the NMC order, the management of private medical colleges had urged the Union Health Ministry to direct NMC for withdrawing the diktat. The Apex medical body, however, did not withdraw its decision and consequently, a host of private medical colleges and deemed to be universities recently approached the Madras HC seeking relief. Similar pleas have been made before other High Courts and the Supreme Court as well.

Recently Kerala HC clarified that the concerned Fee order will not be applicable in Kerala. Recently, passing judgment in a similar plea, the Madras High Court Apex medical commission to reconsider its decision and issue fresh guidelines as necessary. In its order, the Madras HC expressed concern over the possibility of several seats going vacant because of the high fees in the other 50 percent seats in the self-financed institutes. The matter is also pending before the Supreme Court which has issued notice to the Apex medical commission in this regard.

Amid all this, Madhya Pradesh becomes the first state to implement the NMC fee order and the State DME has issued a notice confirming the same. The counselling for admission to MD/MS courses in Madhya Pradesh has started from September 14 and it will continue till September 21 on the official website- dme.mponline.gov.in.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues in this regard, Dr. Rohan Krishnan, the President of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) said, "It is a very welcoming move by the Madhya Pradesh Government. Medical Education needs to be more affordable so that we can produce more doctors. If the medical colleges can manage with this new regime, then this could be a game changer for the medical education in the country."

Further referring to the orders of the Kerala High Court and Tamil Nadu High Court, he mentioned, "Two parties are involved in this case and that's why there needs to be a consensus between the Government and the private medical colleges. Without the consensus, this order will not hold any legal value. The medical colleges also need to get back the money they have spent for running the college."

"Therefore, subsidy should be given by either the State or Central Government so that this order can be implemented. If they want to implement it, then the Government needs to share the responsibility. The Government should involve the private medical college management rather than imposing the order," he added.

Also Read: Revisit decision on Govt fees for 50 percent Private Medical Colleges seats, issue Fresh OM if necessary: Madras HC tells NMC