Excess Fees, Fake payment of Stipend in Telangana Private medical colleges: HRDA complains to TAFRC
Hyderabad: Raising the issue of overcharging by the private medical colleges in Telangana, the Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA) has recently written to the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC).
Writing to the chairman of TAFRC, the association has alleged that the private medical colleges are collecting excess fees of up to Rs 50,000 in the name of lab fees, library fees, sports fees etc. over the fixed fees by TAFRC for block period 2020-22.
In the letter, the association has also claimed that the private medical colleges were not paying any stipend to the Postgraduate medical students. Creating dummy bank accounts, the colleges were allegedly crediting and debiting money to show the same in the annual audit and hike the fees for the next block period.
The association has requested the Fee Regulatory Committee's chairman to investigate the concerned issue by taking it as a suo moto complaint.
"We also bring to your kind notice that private medical colleges are also opening dummy bank accounts in the name of PG students by forcing them and colleges by themselves crediting and debiting stipends to show during inspections as if stipends are paid to PG students and showing those transactions in annual audit for hiking the fees for next block period which is illegal and accounts to similar lines of money laundering fraud," the association mentioned in the letter.
"Unfortunately, the students and their parents are afraid to report the same as they in the sense that students will be targeted and will be failed in academics," it added.
Therefore, urging the TAFRC chairman to lodge a suo moto complaint, HRDA has requested for an enquiry on the concerned matter. In this regard, the letter mentioned, "Hence sir, we request you to take it as suo moto complaint, conduct enquiry on above issues and take necessary action on private medical colleges which are collecting excess fees & are involved in money laundering frauds in payment of stipends. And issue directions to all private medical colleges to pay stipends to interns and PGs from now on without any kind of fraud."
