MBBS, BDS Courses Get Costlier in Tamil Nadu this year

Chennai: Medical and Dental Education in Tamil Nadu has become a little more expensive and as a result, the MBBS and BDS students in the State will have to pay higher fees this year.

According to the recently released prospectus for admission to MBBS/BDS Degree courses under Government and Management Quota seats, the UG students in government medical and dental colleges will be liable to pay Rs 2,000 more this academic year as compared to last year.

While total fees for the MBBS course was Rs 13,610 last year, this year, it has been increased to altogether Rs 18,073. This includes Rs 6,000 as tuition fees, Rs 2,000 as special fees including medical exam, Rs 1,000 as caution deposit, Rs 1,000 as library fees, Rs 7,473 as University fees, Rs 300 for Insurance, Rs 100 for Red Cross, Rs 100 as Miscellaneous fees, and another Rs 100 as fees for Flag day.

Similarly, BDS students will have to pay Rs 4,000 as tuition fees this year as against Rs 2,000 last year. With the increase in the tuition fees, the UG Dental students pursuing their education in the government dental colleges will have to pay Rs 16,073 annually. Last year, the students paid Rs 11,610, adds The Hindu.

The prospectus mentioned, "The fee structure for Management seat, NRI seat, NRI lapsed seat, Minority seat in Self-financing Medical and Dental Colleges will be adopted as fixed by the Fee Committee constituted by the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Fee Structure in rupees will be intimated in the official websites at the time of counseling."

Also Read: MBBS, BDS Fees increase at Tamil Nadu private medical colleges

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, while the Fee Panel will decide the fees for the self-financing medical and dental colleges, it is expected to be higher as well. However, the fee structure in ESIC college has been kept unchanged.

The Daily adds that this year's prospectus for both the government quota and management quota seats is more elaborate than last year's. Referring to this, the selection secretary R Muthuselvan told the Daily, “We have added glossary of terms, frequently asked questions section and provided diagramatic representation of counselling. A tabular column about how the students can use the counselling process has also been given."

It is mandatory for the candidates to submit a certificate from their school heads to substantiate their claim of having studied in the concerned schools. Last year the students had been told to submit a letter from the Chief Educational Officer as well. However, this year, this clause has been eliminated. Apart from this, the new prospectus has also done away with the need for the parents to submit identification proof.

According to the data shared by the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar earlier this year, Tamil Nadu has altogether 11225 MBBS Seats in 72 medical colleges. Among these, 38 Government medical colleges in the State have altogether 5225 MBBS Seats.

Altogether 15% of the government medical college seats will be surrendered to the Director General of Health Services for all India pool. Officials informed the daily that three new self-financing institutes have claimed that they have received the nod from the National Medical Commission and they are currently waiting for the formal communication from the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University. Meanwhile, additional 50 MBBS seats have been added to the seat matrix of ESIC medical college in K.K. Nagar. With this, the college will now be able to admit students in 175 seats.

Referring to the seat matrix, Dr. Muthuselvan added, “We require seat matrix details from the University.” Meanwhile, DGHS has instructed all the States to conduct the counselling simultaneously. 

In Tamil Nadu, the last date for submitting applications has been fixed at 5PM of July 10, 2023. The first round of counselling is likely to be conducted by the second or third week of July and classes would begin for first year students on August 1.

Altogether 78,693 candidates have qualified in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test held in May 2023. NEET scores will also be used for admission to para medical and Ayush programmes (except Yoga and Naturopathy). 

Around 3,900 medical aspirants have registered and 1,2000 completed the process of fee payment to participate in the online counselling for MBBS and BDS seats in Tamil Nadu on the opening day of online applications by the State DME.

Also Read: MBBS, BDS Admissions in Tamil Nadu: Check out fee structure for govt, management quota seats