Maha Private Medical Colleges Stop MBBS Admissions over Pending Fee Reimbursement, State CET Cell Threatens Legal Action

Mumbai: MBBS admission at the private medical colleges in Maharashtra came to a halt on Thursday as the Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges of the Maharashtra Government recently decided to stop the second round of the admission process of the first-year MBBS students over pending fee reimbursement issue.

Highlighting the pendency of hundreds of crores of rupees in the form of reimbursement of fees, the Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges (AMUPMDC) recently informed the Government that it was damaging the "sustainability" functioning of the colleges.

Meanwhile, following the decision by the private medical colleges to stop admissions on Thursday, the State Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell threatened to take legal action against the private medical and dental colleges for refusing to admit students.

Issuing a notice, the CET Cell informed about its intention to recommend disciplinary measures against the colleges to the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS), to which all the medical institutes in the State are affiliated, HT has reported.

AMUPMDC represents more than 40 unaided private medical colleges in Maharashtra. In the last week of September, it held a meeting with the Medical Education Department of the Maharashtra Government, where AMUPMDC discussed this issue of pending fee reimbursement.

Writing to the Secretary of the Medical Education Department and the Commissioner of the State Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, the association said that despite the meetings with the State Government, no demands were fulfilled and the colleges were forced to suspend the admission process.

Also Read: Start fee reimbursement process for open category MBBS students: Bombay HC gives ultimatum to State

On October 1, the second merit list for both the MBBS and BDS courses was released. While the first round is already over, the second round of admission is still due. In its letter directed to the State Medical Education Department and the CET cell, the association mentioned that its representatives met the medical education minister Hasan Mushrif and other officials from the department on September 26.

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the association has alleged that the reimbursement of fees against various scholarship schemes is pending and it is worth crores of rupees. Mentioning how it is already making it difficult for the college to sustain, the members of the association also pointed out that the newer schemes announcing freeship to girl students from the EWS background has also contributed to their worries.

Previously, the Government allowed collecting fees from the students and later the fees were reimbursed to them. However, under the new system, the colleges are barred from collecting fees from the students altogether at the time of admission. Therefore, they have to completely depend on the State Government for reimbursements, they mentioned. At this outset, the colleges had urged the Government not to publish the second merit list till their demands were met.

Commenting on the matter, a member of the association, told Indian Express on the condition of anonymity that while the pendency of reimbursement of fees from the State Government has been going on for a long time, the recent decisions have further escalated the situation.

"The government has prohibited us from taking admission fees, instead it will reimburse us. The government has announced that all girls will get free higher education, which means the fee of every girl student will come to us from the state government," said the member. He further added that considering the huge fees for medical education, the college has to completely depend on the State Government.

Additionally, the extension of six months for submitting the OBC certificates has created further problems. In case a candidate submits a fake certificate, the seat goes vacant and there is no clarity from the government regarding the next course of action. Private medical colleges are also facing problems because of the removal of capping of Rs 8 lakh for the EWS category. 

"Now, we are told not to take money from students who are getting benefits of fee reimbursement. It means, we are at the mercy of state government and payments of more than hundreds of crores are pending to us," said the member.

Despite the meeting between the Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif and the officials, the State has not announced any concrete decision regarding the reimbursement of fees. Referring to this, the member said, "It has forced us to take this action."

Maha CET Cell Threatens Legal Action: 

As per the latest media report by Hindustan Times, following the decision by the private medical colleges to stop admissions on Thursday, the State CET Cell threatened to take legal action against the private medical and dental colleges for their refusal to admit students. It issued a notice in this regard after receiving complaints from several students who were denied admission during the second round of the admission process.

Many of the students who had secured seats in this round were turned away by the colleges on Thursday leaving them uncertain about their futures. Commenting on the issue, one of the parents, who travelled from Pune to Navi Mumbai to admit their daughter, expressed frustration and said, "We lost the whole day. I took leave from work, and when we arrived at the college, they refused to admit my daughter, citing an association letter. Despite several requests, we had no choice but to return home."

Responding to the complaints by the students, the CET Cell has threatened to take legal action against the concerned institutes. The CET Cell clarified that any refusal to admit students without valid justification violates the Maharashtra Unaided Private Vocational Educational Institutions Act, 2015.

However, the AMUPMDC has defended its position, highlighting the financial difficulties faced by the colleges. Commenting on the matter, a representative of the association told HT, "Almost 50% of seats in private institutions are reserved, and now the government is also covering the education fees for female students [under a new populist scheme announced earlier this year]. However, we have not received the fee reimbursements for over a year and a half. We still need to pay our employees and teachers. If the government had reimbursed us on time, we wouldn’t have been forced to take this decision."

Meanwhile, expressing concern regarding the situation of the students amid this battle between Maharashtra Government and private medical colleges, an education activist Brijesh Sutaria told the Daily, "NEET UG 2024 aspirants have already faced numerous challenges, and further delays will only increase their anxiety. Additionally, students from Maharashtra may miss out on the NEET UG 2024 counselling round 3, where additional seats are available due to the establishment of eight new government medical colleges in Maharashtra and two in other states."

Also Read: Fee reimbursement process for open category MBBS students is under process: State to Bombay HC