MBBS, BDS fee not increased in four years: Karnataka Private Medical, Dental Colleges to submit proposal for fee hike to new Govt

Bengaluru: Referring to the fact that the fees for medical and dental courses have not been increased for the last four years, Karnataka Private Medical and Dental Colleges Association has decided to demand a fee hike this year.

The proposal for a fee hike will be submitted by the association once the new government is formed, informed the Honorary Secretary of the association, Dr. M.R. Jayaram.

Negotiating a consensual agreement regarding seat sharing and fixing the fees for medical and dental courses for this academic year will be one of the first challenges of this new government, which is all set to be sworn in on May 20.

Medical Dialogues had last year reported that referring to the financial crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, the self-financing medical and dental colleges in Karnataka were planning to place a proposal before the State Government to increase the fees.

The colleges were demanding a hike in the government and institutional quota MBBS and BDS fee by 30% to 35% for the academic year 2022-2023. Regarding the MBBS fees, earlier this year, the Apex medical body NMC had directed all the private medical colleges and deemed-to-be Universities to charge fees at par with the government medical colleges for the 50% of the total seats.

Also Read: Karnataka Private Medical Colleges seek 20 percent MBBS fee hike, Govt to take decision

As per the latest media report by The Hindu, last year, the State Government had accepted a fee hike of 10% and the talks broke down. Speaking about this, Dr. M. R. Jayaram, Honorary Secretary, Karnataka Private Medical and Dental Colleges Association told the daily, “Since four years there has been no fee hike for medical courses in the State. During the COVID-19 period, we faced a lot of challenges. Introducing new courses, new medical equipment, new technology in the medical field and providing salaries and bearing expenses of other facilities has been a challenge. Unless we increase the medical course fee, we cannot sustain this. Therefore, we have decided to submit the proposal for fee hike, once a full fledged government is formed.”

Sources informed the daily that one of the many reasons why the private medial and dental institutes are demanding a fee hike s the modified arrangement of seat sharing at a 50:50 ratio instead of the previous arrangement of 60:40 ratio.

Also Read: Karnataka Private Medical Colleges demand 30 to 35 percent fee hike for MBBS, BDS courses