Whooping Upto 87 percent MBBS fee hike in GMERS Medical Colleges

Ahmedabad: MBBS education in Gujarat is now more expensive as the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) has implemented a significant increase in the MBBS annual fees across all its 13 colleges in the State.

As per a TOI report, the fee hike has been implemented for the State and all-India quota seats. The fees for these seats have been increased from 3.3 lakh per annum to Rs 5.5 lakh per annum- around 66%. For the management quota seats, fees have increased by 87%. While previously, the students had to pay around Rs 9.075 lakh for these management quota seats, now the fees have been increased to Rs 17 lakh.

The course fee for the NRI quota MBBS seats has also been increased. From $ 22,000 per annum to $25,000 per annum- the course fee for the NRI quota seats has increased by 13%.

There are around 2,100 medical seats available for students in the 13 GMERS medical colleges in Gujarat.  Among these, 1,500 seats belong to State quota, and 210 seats belong to the management quota. Further, there are 315 NRI quota and 75 all-India quota seats available in these colleges. As per the rules, unfilled NRI quota seats are converted into management quota seats.

Also Read: Five new GMERS colleges get LoP from NMC

Sources in the Health Department informed the Times of India that the medical seats in five GMERS colleges- Rajpipla, Navsari, Porbandar, Godhra and Morbi get 60% of their funding from the central government and the remaining 40% from the State Government. The rest of the GMERS colleges, on the other hand, are fully funded by the State.

The sharp fee hike in the GMERS medical colleges, which had been catering to economically disadvantaged students with affordable medical education, has drawn comparison to the fee structure in the private medical colleges. With around 87% hike in the fee structure, now the course fee in the GMERS medical colleges is a lot closer to the private medical institutes. 

Experts expressed their concern that such a substantial fee hike will make it exceedingly difficult for students from poor and middle-class backgrounds to afford medical education. They are also anticipating possible protests from the students, considering the fact that the GMERS colleges are govt-funded institutes.

Due to the fee hike, the fee structure in the all-India quota seats, which intends to offer medical education at nominal fees, has also changed. As per the experts, applying the fee hike to the AIQ seats undermines the original mission of GMERS, TOI has reported. GMERS colleges do not undergo financial audits or submit reports for fee approval, but the fees in these colleges are decided solely by the Government.

Also Read: NMC slaps show-cause notice on 5 Gujarat Medical Colleges over faculty deficiencies, warns of reducing MBBS seats