PM Modi confirms NMC decision on fee for 50 percent private medical college seats, doctors welcome move

In his Twitter handle, PM Modi wrote, "A few days back, the government has taken another big decision, which will benefit the poor and middle-class children."

"We have decided that half the seats in private medical colleges will be charged at par with government medical colleges," further read the Tweet by the Prime Minister.

The confirmation from the Prime Minister has now given a solid foundation to the recent decision by NMC, the apex medical regulator.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC had clarified recently that the fees for 50 per cent of seats in the private medical colleges would be at par with the government medical colleges of that particular State/UT.

Also Read: NMC says fee structure of 50 percent seats in private medical colleges will now be at par with govt ones

"After extensive consultations, it has been decided that the fee of the 50 per cent seats in the private medical colleges and deemed universities should be at par with the fee in the government medical colleges of that particular State and UT. The benefit of this fee structure would be first made available to those candidates who have availed government quota seats, but are limited to the extent of 50 per cent of the total sanctioned strength of the respective medical college/deemed university," NMC had mentioned in the notification.

"However, if the government quota seats are less than 50 per cent of total sanctioned seats, the remaining candidates would avail the benefit of a fee equivalent to the government medical college fees, based purely on the merit," it added.

Interestingly, the announcement from the Prime Minister comes amid the tension followed by the Russia-Ukraine war. Thousands of Indian students who were pursuing MBBS courses in Ukraine had to be evacuated from the war-hit country. This revealed the condition in India, where thousands of students flee to foreign countries for pursing medical education at an affordable rate. On the other hand, the fees for the private medical colleges in India are clearly out of reach for students belonging to lower and middle class families.

In such a context, the PM's affirmation of the NMC decision for reducing fees comes as a sigh of relief for many. The members of medical fraternity also have welcomed the move. However, they have also raised the question that with the reduced fees for the 50 per cent of seats, how the private medical colleges will run.

Speaking to Medical Dialogues regarding the issue, Dr. Rohan Krishnan, the president of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) said, "Yesterday the Prime Minister announced that the fees for the 50% of the private medical college seats would be equivalent to the fees for the government medical colleges. It is undoubtedly a welcoming move. However, the idea of implementing such a decision was there since the establishment of the National Medical Commission itself but still it hasn't come into reality. So, let us hope that it finally comes into force as soon as possible."

"However, as per my opinion, the government should also consider the question that how the private medical colleges would run. Those colleges spend crores of money for building the infrastructure, hiring faculties, purchasing equipments. On the other hand, the sole source of income for a private medical college is from the fees that they are collecting from the students.

So, when the government is decreasing the fees for the 50% of the seats and making it at par with the government medical colleges, automatically the fees for the remaining 50% of seats would become very expensive. The Government should think about both the parties, otherwise these private medical colleges would be left with no choice but to shut down as anyway they need to have the running cost," he added.

"The approach for development should be holistic and only then it will come down to reality," added Dr. Krishnan.

He further opined that medical system should be run by medical professionals because people belonging to the non-medical background do not understand that medical education is a very expensive affair. "For instance, the chemicals required for teaching biochemistry come at a cost of approximately Rs 10 lakh per month. So, the government must consider the condition of the other side as well," he added.