KHAIRA, AAP SLAM DECISION

CHANDIGARH:PUNJAB Ekta Party (PEP) leader and MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira on Thursday criticised the 80% fee increase in medical colleges in the state amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Demanding an immediate rollback, Khaira slammed the state government for its “draconian decision to revise the fee structure of private government medical colleges in this manner. “The fee in Punjab has been hiked at a time when ordinary people are reeling under severe economic crunch,” he said in a statement.

‘SET UP JUDICIAL COMMISSION’

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday accused the Congress government of playing in the hands of medical education mafia in the state. The AAP demanded a judicial commission under a sitting judge of the high court to look into the fee structure for MBBS, BDS, MD, MS and nursing courses since 2013 in a timebound manner. In a statement, AAP core committee head Budhram and others said the fee hike made medical education in Punjab the costliest in India.

can produce good doctors. This is not the sector where the government should look for profits.”

Dr Birgurman Singh, studying in Government Medical College, Patiala, said, “Even at Rs 4.4 lakh, the MBBS fee in Punjab government colleges was one of the highest in the country. Also, the MBBS students of Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh, pay around Rs 1.21 lakh as fee to the government over five years, which is

STIPEND INCREASE IS ‘OF NO USE’

On the government’s decision to increase the stipend of undergraduate medical and dental students from Rs 9,000 per month to Rs 15,000 per month, Dr Birgurman Singh said, “this hike will serve no purpose now.”

At present, Punjab has 1,225 MBBS seats in eight medical institutions across the state, 625 seats in five private institutions and 600 seats in three government medical colleges (GMCS).

The state will also offer 250 additional MBBS seats from this academic session as Gian Sagar Medical College and Government Medical College in Mohali district will start classes.

The Punjab cabinet increased the MBBS fee in government and private medical colleges of the state on Wednesday. The fee for the full five-year course in government-run medical colleges from this session will be Rs 7.8 lakh from Rs 4.4 lakh previously (an increase of around 80%).

In private medical colleges, the fee for government quota seats has been hiked from Rs 13.4 lakh to Rs 18 lakh (35% increase) for the course.