RGUHS warns nursing, physiotherapy colleges against excess fees
Bengaluru: Taking note of complaints of excessive fees being charged to students during admission, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) has directed affiliated nursing, allied health sciences and physiotherapy colleges to strictly follow the government-prescribed fee structure.
Asking the colleges not to impose any hidden or additional charges on students, RGUHS, in a circular to affiliated institutions, made it clear that admissions must be carried out only through the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) counselling process.
This comes after both the Admission Overseeing Committee at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) and the KEA received complaints about these colleges charging excessive fees after the completion of the second round of seat allotment for professional courses.
As per the Medical Education Department’s order issued on August 8, the annual nursing fee has been fixed at Rs 10,000 for students admitted under the government quota. For management quota seats, the fee is Rs 1 lakh for Karnataka-domicile students and Rs 1.4 lakh for students from outside Karnataka.
Although the annual fee for nursing courses is not supposed to exceed the prescribed amount, it has been reported that some colleges were allegedly demanding an additional Rs 50,000 from students who have bagged seats under the government quota.
In response to the complaints, RGUHS directed colleges to maintain a uniform fee structure throughout the course. It stated that colleges cannot charge a higher amount in the first year and adjust or reduce the fee in subsequent years, as reported by TOI.
"All affiliated nursing, allied health sciences and physiotherapy colleges cannot charge any fee in addition to what is prescribed by the government. RGUHS has made it clear that admissions are to be conducted exclusively through KEA, and that there can be no deviation from the prescribed fee structure. Colleges failing to adhere to these directives will be brought to the attention of the government," read the circular issued by RGUHS.
The university has warned that disciplinary action will be initiated if reports of demanding excessive fees are confirmed. Along with this, it also prohibited colleges from making hostel stay compulsory as a condition for admission.
The fee-related warning comes at a time when students allotted seats through KEA counselling are also facing problems with college addresses.
Several students admitted to nursing, physiotherapy and allied health sciences courses this year reportedly found that the colleges mentioned in their admission orders were not operating at the listed addresses.
In response to the issue, KEA blamed the respective universities and the government departments, while RGUHS said it had already communicated the details to the Medical Education Department.
"The last date for candidates allotted seats in the second round to report to college is Aug 31. The change of college address without obtaining govt permission has caused confusion among candidates. Therefore, it is requested to immediately issue appropriate directions to the college concerned in this regard," KEA stated in its letters.
Commenting on this, KEA Executive Director H Prasanna told TOI, "It is up to the respective universities and departments to send their local inspection committees and give approval for these colleges. We receive the final list from the higher education and medical education departments and publish it as is. Several such cases have come to our notice. We’ll now give a chance for these students to apply to another college."
