Deccan Chronicle

DEEMED VARSITY MBBS FEES IN `9-25L RANGE

- VINOD NEDUMUDY | DC

Though the admissions of deemed universiti­es are under the ambit of Neet, they continue to be beyond the reach of poor students.

Kochi-based Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences has declared a fee of `15 lakh per seat. The highest fee is charged by Dr D.Y. Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai, at `25 lakh.

Even as the Supreme Court has brought the MBBS admissions of deemed universiti­es in the country under the ambit of National Eligibilit­y-cumEntranc­e Test (Neet), they continue to be beyond the reach of financiall­y weak, but meritoriou­s students.

The Medical Counsellin­g Committee (MCC) under the directorat­e-general of health services, Union ministry of health and family welfare, opened its website on Wednesday for students to register themselves for participat­ing in its counsellin­g for MBBS course under deemed universiti­es.

It also published the fees in these 38 universiti­es in the country, following which the students could learn about the ‘shocking’ fee structure. They can register their choices on the website from Friday.

As per the fee structure shown on the website, Kochi-based Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences has declared a fee of `15 lakh per seat. The highest fee out of the lot is charged by Dr D.Y. Patil Medical College, Navi Mumbai, at `25 lakh while Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, which is one of the oldest in the country, has a fee of `10.30 lakh. The SDU Medical College, Kolar, Karnataka, has the lowest fee of the lot at `9,00,000.

Interestin­gly, the shoddy way in which the website has put out the details is revealed from the NRI fee given against the name of three medical colleges. It is the same as the regular fee while it is shown against the $ sign, which makes it a phenomenal sum. The three colleges are the SDU Medical College, Kolar, Smt.B.K.Shah Medical Institute& Research Centre, Vadodara, and Sri Sidhartha Medical College, Tumkur. “There is no rationale for allowing such a wide range of fee structure between `9 lakh and `25 lakh. The UGC, the MCI and the Central government have the responsibi­lity to enforce a reasonable fee structure for the sector to enable meritoriou­s students to study in such institutio­ns,” said Dr S.Rajookrish­nan, former joint commission­er of entrance examinatio­ns.

“Everyone was under the impression that the fee in deemed universiti­es will come down once Neet ranklist is made applicable to them. The government could have regulated their fees to a reasonable level on the strength of the Supreme Court order which made Neet applicable to the deemed universiti­es also. However, sadly that has not happened,” said Rajendran Puthiyedat­h, an education expert.

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