Maharashtra FRA to soon set Upper Limit for Caution Money in Medical Colleges
Mumbai: Bringing relief to the medical aspirants in Maharashtra, the Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) is soon going to set an upper limit for caution money and other deposits charged by the private medical colleges in the State.
Apart from this, the FRA will also draw up norms in compliance with the rules recommended for the medical institutes by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
The colleges collect the caution money at the time of admission under various heads such as hostel, mess, gymkhana, library, laboratory, etc. Even though the students get a full refund of this amount after the completion of the courses, it becomes a burden for the students to pay this amount along with the regular fee of the college at the time of admission to the MBBS course.
Caution or deposit money is collected by the medical colleges to make up for any loss or damage to college property at the hands of the students. The private medical colleges located in Maharashtra ask for anywhere between Rs 20,000 to Rs 5 lakh in refundable payment. Most of the colleges charge around Rs 2-3 lakh.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that recently thirteen medical aspirants from Maharashtra approached the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court and questioned the caution or deposit money charged by the private medical colleges in the State and prayed to the Court to put a curb on it. It has been claimed by the petitioners that they were unable to get admitted to the MBBS course at several private medical institutes as those colleges require the students to deposit large sums of money.
Also Read: MBBS Aspirants move Bombay HC Challenging Exorbitant Deposit Money
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, in a major relief to the medical aspirants in the State, the Fee Regulating Authority requested the commissioner of medical education to suggest the amount to be collected as caution money, library deposit, laboratory deposit, among others, by unaided private professional colleges running health science courses.
Last year issuing guidelines for the determination of fees and all other charges in respect of 50 percent of the MBBS and PG medical seats in private medical institutions and deemed to be universities, governed under the NMC Act, 2019, NMC had released a comprehensive set of principles for the fee regulatory authorities to follow and subsequently private medical institutes.
In its guidelines, NMC had directed the institutions to not charge capitation fees at all costs while following the 'not for profit' agenda for the impartation of medical education.
Further, in the directive, NMC had also said that the interest amount earned by the college on the deposit money should be taken into account while calculating the expenses of the institute.
For the determination of fees for MBBS/ PG courses, it needs to be ensured that the principle of education being "not-for-profit", is strictly adhered to. Therefore, it is necessary that whereas all the operating costs and other expenses for running and maintenance of the institution for imparting medical education on a sustainable basis are covered in the fees, no excessive expense and exorbitant profit component should be allowed to be added to the fees, NMC had earlier directed.
TOI adds that parents have time and again complained about the exorbitant sum charged by the medical colleges as caution money. While FRA previously slashed the tuition fee at Prakash Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Sangli, the institute changes Rs 3 lakh as caution money. If library, laboratory, mess and hostel deposits are also taken into account, the students have to pay around Rs 5 lakh. Apart from this, the institute also charges the student for alumni lifetime membership and the students have to pay Rs 1 lakh for this.
In case of Tasgaonkar Institute of Medical Sciences, the tuition and development fees are Rs 8 lakh. However, the students also have to pay an additional Rs 9 lakh while getting admitted to the institute. This amount includes Rs 3.5 lakh of refundable deposits.
While commenting on the plans of FRA in this regard, an official informed TOI that they plan to include the upper limit for charging caution money in the fee regulation norms for 2024-2025.
“While there are recommendations given by the NMC for medical colleges, we plan to extend it to other unaided professional colleges too. The NMC suggests that caution money should not be exorbitant and that the interests accrued on such deposits to be considered as income. The idea is to make colleges accountable and ensure students are not exploited,” said the official.
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