Rajah Muthiah Medical College students go on protest again as authorities insist on keeping old MBBS fee structure
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Chidambaram: The medicos attached to Rajah Muthiah Medical College Hospital (RMMCH) and allied institutions have to tread the path of protest again as even after the government's announcement of taking over the college, no reduction in the fee of Medical and Dental courses have been made yet.
RMMCH students along with the medicos belonging from allied institutions at Chidamabaram in Cuddalore district again started their protest on Sunday as even after the government's previous declaration of initiating a reduction in the medical and dental course fee, they have received instruction to pay the course fee determined by the old fee structure again.
The college has evoked controversy for a long time due to the constant protest of medicos demanding a decrease in the medical course fees.
Previously Medical Dialogues team reported that the students had been protesting against the hefty medical fee charged for medical and dental courses for almost one month but then the authorities instructed that all the classes would remain suspended for undergraduate and postgraduate students till further notice. The authorities also clarified that 'unauthorized stay' in either the campus or the hostel would not be entertained.
Following the shutting down of the college, the government finally issued an order in January stating that the college would be taken over by the government. The college which was previously under Annamalai University would be affiliated with Dr. MGR Medical University and would come under the ambit of the state Department of Health and Family Welfare. After a long protest of almost one month, the protesting medicos called off their protest on February 4 after the government passed the order announcing its decision of taking over the college.
According to the medicos on February 1, the government issued an order and fixed the MBBS course fee to be Rs 13,610 per annum (pa) and Rs 30,000 pa for MD/MS courses on par with other government colleges in the state, reports TOI. However, to a great surprise of the medicos, the college recently issued direction a few days ago instructing them to pay the course fee which they were supposed to pay before the government order. Thus, the students ultimately have to pay Rs 5.4 lakh pa for the MBBS course and Rs 9.6 lakh pa for MD/MS courses, the fee structure against which they have been vocal for so long.
The government, in January, handed over RMMCH and its allied institutions affiliated under Annamalai University to the health and family welfare department and also announced that RMMCH would be treated as a government medical college for Cuddalore district. Despite this, incurring the old fee for medical and dental courses from students have irked them and they decided to resume the protest.
A member of the students' council told Times of India, " The Tamil Nadu government conceded to our demand after our 60-day protest and passed an order reducing the fees for medical, dental and paramedical programmes on par with other government colleges in the state. We called off the protest on February 4 after the government passed the order. But the college has now issued instructions to pay Rs 5.4 lakh pa for the MBBS course and Rs 9.6 lakh pa for MD/MS courses. We feel we have been fooled by the government."
Times of India reports that meanwhile, the government had already asked the director of medical education to produce a detailed proposal on taking over the properties and liabilities of the RMMCH and allied institutions. The value of the movable and immovable properties of the institutions on 113.21 acres is estimated at Rs 249.99 crore. The pending liabilities, including salaries, pension, stipend, PF, and loans, are about Rs 840.93 crore, reports the daily.
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