MBBS Fee Hike in Uttarakhand: 124 students denied appearing in Final Exam
Dehradun: A total number of 124 students failed to appear in their final-year MBBS exam on Tuesday after the Swami Rama Himalayan University in Dehradun suddenly hiked the MBBS fees for both state quota and management quota.
The matter being sub-judice, the students didn't pay the increased amount and as a result, they were allegedly barred from appearing in their final exams, adds TOI.
Due to the sudden hike, the MBBS fee for the state quota seats at the institute is Rs 16 lakh, whereas the students are required to pay Rs 23 lakh for the management quota seats.
Although students tried to sort out the issue with a discussion with the college management on Tuesday, it failed and it is most likely that they missed another exam, which was scheduled on Wednesday.
Initially, at the time of admission, the MBBS fee at this medical college was Rs 18 lakh. However, the college filed a petition before the High Court mid-way and requested for a permission to increase the fee to Rs 34 lakh.
As per the latest media report by the Times of India, the tension began when the University on February 28, hardly one week before the exam, asked the students of 2017 batch for submitting the additional fees till March 5 if they wished to appear in the final exam, which commenced from March 8.
So, in that notice, the University hardly gave the students five days of time for submitting an undated cheque even though the matter was still sub-judice.
In the middle of all the confusions, the representatives of the students met the college administration on Tuesday. However, they couldn't reach any solution. Although the students continued their protest on one hand, the University on the other claimed that the matter had been resolved.
Issuing a press statement in this regard, the University declared, "The fee issue has been resolved. Students have returned to their hostels and they have agreed to pay the deficit amount. Exams held on March 8 and March 9 will be rescheduled for March 17 and 19, respectively. If the University wins the case in court only then will it use that cheque, else it will return it. There is no fee hike until then."
However, the students have another story to tell. Speaking to TOI, one protesting student said, "We have not stopped protesting because the University wants us to submit an affidavit as per their format but students wish to submit an affidavit according to their own format."
"We are being bullied to pay this hefty amount as the university knows how crucial these exams re for our career. Just a week before our final exams they told us to submit this security cheque to create pressure on parents to give their hard-earned money under stress," added one distressed student who missed the exam.
Meanwhile, the case was listed before the HC on Wednesday.
It should be noted in this context that recently the National Medical Commission (NMC) has directed that the fees for 50 per cent of seats in private medical colleges would now be at par with the government medical colleges. In fact, this decision has been affirmed by the Prime Minister himself, who recently announced this decision on his Twitter handle.
