Maharashtra among 5 costliest states for MBBS course

Written by Sanchari Chattopadhyay Published On 2020-12-29T15:00:40+05:30 | Updated On 29 Dec 2020 5:08 PM IST

Maharashtra among 5 costliest states for MBBS course

Maharashtra: Maharashtra has been enlisted among the top five states with the highest amount of MBBS fee in the Government Medical Colleges with almost a 50% hike in the last 5 years only.

Along with Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, Maharashtra has one of the highest fee structures at GMCs for MBBS course amounting to pver 1 lakh per year.

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Despite the fact that many of the Government colleges in several states are charging from Rs 9000 to 40000 and Delhi is charging just above rupees 1350, there is a steep increase in the medical course fee of Maharashtra and it has raised concern among the medicos.

TOI reports that during 2010 the state government took the decision to increase fees by 10% each year. Dr. Praveen Shingare, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research stated that the annual fee for government engineering colleges was around rupees 40000 then and the medical education minister decided that it cannot be any less for MBBS especially when the state spends more on its account. " It was therefore decided to increase the fee by 10% every year. But the fee-paying population in our state colleges is only 25% and it has never been opposed', stated Shingare. He confirmed that almost 65% of the state's budget invested for government medical colleges is used to clear the salary of the staff itself.

The fees in Central Government colleges such as All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) are rupees 1628 and 7620 Rs, but as far as Maharashtra civic-run government colleges are concerned, the tuition fee is almost as high as 94400 Rs. Other than that Rs 5,000 in development fees, and the remaining as library, admission, gymkhana, and hostel fees are charged. Over a decade ago, the cumulative annual fees hovered around Rs 10,000 for several years, reports the daily.

The municipal corporation run institutions like GS Medical College (KEM), LTMG College (Sion), follows the fee structure decided by the state for government medical colleges.

Stating that there is a gap in the fees decided by every state, Former dean of KEM Hospital Dr. Avinash Supe told the daily the fee-paying population is very little in our state. Revenue from fees is very low, despite the higher amount. For instance, the annual budget for KEM is around Rs 400-450 crore, but the revenue from fees is only about Rs 20 crore.

One of the parent representatives told Times of India that though the government medical colleges' fee is not at par with that charged by the private medical colleges, the increased fee is still going to be a blazing problem for the open category students. She added, "several newer quotas have been introduced over the years shrinking seats in the open category. Students from the other categories pay a fraction of the fees, which are also refunded by the state under various schemes. we have a higher number of seats in government colleges compared to other states or central universities. Hence, revenue should be higher from the total intake."

Government Medical CollegeMaharashtra medical collegembbs feembbs

Source : with inputs

Sanchari Chattopadhyay

Sanchari Chattopadhyay has pursued her M.A in English and Culture Studies from the University of Burdwan, West Bengal. She likes observing cultural specificities and exploring new places.