Rollback MBBS Fee Hike at GMERS medical Colleges: IMA Urges Gujarat Govt

Ahmedabad: Opposing the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society's (GMERS) announcement of up to 87 per cent fee hike at its medical colleges, the  doctors have written to Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel demanding a rollback.

Writing to the Chief Minister, the State Chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) referred to the discontent among the students and their parents because of the fee increase and requested the Government to retract the fee increase in the interest of the less-affluent sections.

Medical dialogues had earlier reported that GMERS had increased the MBBS annual fees across all its colleges in the State by up to 87 percent on June 28. The fees for the State and all-India quota seats were increased from 3.3 lakh per annum to Rs 5.5 lakh per annum- around 66 percent. 

For the management quota seats, fees were 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: Whooping Upto 87 percent MBBS fee hike in GMERS Medical Colleges

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the State Chapter of IMA has now written to the Chief Minister demanding a rollback of the GMERS's decision to increase the MBBS fees.

Sources informed the Daily that following the fee hike at the GMERS institutes, it is a possibility that the private medical colleges in the State will also demand likely increase in their fees.

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.

Sources in the Health Department informed the TOI 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.

According to experts, GMERS had announced a similar fee hike in 2023 as well just before commencement of the admission process. However, the increase in the MBBS fees had to be retracted by the Government after protests in this regard.

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