‘Exorbitant private college fees deny underprivileged access to medical courses’

‘Exorbitant private college fees deny underprivileged access to medical courses’




The number of candidates aspiring to study MBBS has gone up from 16 lakh in 2019 to 24 lakh in 2024, the Survey says. Getty Images

Maitri Porecha

New Delhi 01.02.2025

Skyrocketing fees for undergraduate medical education remain a considerable challenge that denies the opportunity to make the MBBS degree accessible and affordable for students from less privileged backgrounds, the Economic Survey says.

The number of medical colleges grew from 499 in the financial year 2018-19 to 648 in 2022-23 to 780 in 2024-25, during which MBBS seats increased from 70,012 in 2018-19 to 96,077 in 2022-23 to 1,18,137 in 2024-25 and postgraduate seats from 39,583 in 2018-19 to 64,059 in 2022-23 to 73,157 in 2024-25.

Despite the National Medical Commission issuing guidelines for determination of fees and all other charges in respect of 50% of seats in private medical institutions and deemed-to-be universities, fees remain high ranging from ₹60 lakh to ₹1 crore or even more in the private sector, which holds 48% of the MBBS seats, the Survey notes.

The number of candidates aspiring to study MBBS has increased consistently over the years, from around 16 lakh in 2019 to around 24 lakh in 2024.

The very low pass percentage of foreign medical graduates in the qualifying exam for practising in India (16.65% of 2,02,385 students) indicates sub-par quality of medical education abroad.

“As policy intervention to dissuade medical education abroad is crafted, keeping costs in India within reasonable limits is essential,” the survey points out.

The availability of opportunities for medical education is geographically skewed, apparent from the fact that 51% of undergraduate seats and 49% of postgraduate seats are in the southern States, the Survey says.

Also, the Survey points out that market estimates indicate that remuneration of fresh graduates is around ₹5 lakh a year and senior doctors earn between ₹12.5 lakh and ₹18.4 lakh a year in cities.