HC caps med courses fee in TN deemed univs at ₹13L/yr
Interim Ruling Can Save Parents ₹50L/MBBS Seat
Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com
Chennai:
The cost of medical courses offered in deemed universities of Tamil Nadu is set to come down by at least ₹50 lakh, with the Madras high court fixing ₹13 lakh as the annual fee for these institutions.
The order is an interim measure till a final decision is taken by the fee fixation committee. However, since the ongoing rate is anywhere between ₹21 lakh and ₹22.5 lakh per annum, the overall saving for parents is expected to be about ₹50 lakh for five years. A similar fee cap exists in Kerala and for PG medical courses in Puducherry.
“It appears to us that fees varying between ₹25 lakh and ₹35 lakh per annum is prima facie high and the fee committee constituted by UGC ought to make an in-depth study and recommend the fees to be collected by institutions. Needless to mention that fees shall be regulated and streamlined considering all relevant factors. The UGC undertakes to constitute a committee forthwith in any case by June 30. The fee committee shall positively submit its report/recommendation within a period of six weeks,” said the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha on Friday. The bench made the decision after it was informed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that the panel had earlier fixed ₹11.5 lakh as the fee for management quota seats in colleges under deemed universities.
Students may now be admitted subject to payment of ₹13 lakh on the condition that they would have to pay the balance if the sum fixed by the fee committee is higher. If the fee determined is lower, the students will be entitled for a refund, the bench said in the interim order.
Higher capitation fee in state likely
Since 13,000 more students have cleared NEET compared to last year and the total number of seats in the state is almost the same as last year, the order on fee cap in deemed universities could turn out to be a double whammy for TN medical aspirants as they may lose seats to higher ranked students from other states or end up paying illegal capitation fee. P 4
Annual med fee in K’taka is ₹6.83 lakh
The Fee Regulatory Committee of Karnataka has capped the maximum annual fee for a first-year Indian student of an undergraduate MBBS course in a private medical college in Karnataka at ₹6.83 lakh a year, and for a dental course at ₹4.63 lakh. The committee has allowed a maximum of 8% increase over the previous year’s fee.
‘Deemed univs offering med courses only to amass wealth’
The bench passed the order on a PIL moved by Jawaharlal Shanmugam charging that deemed universities concealed and falsified financials, and wanting the court to interfere and fix the fee structure for medical courses offered by deemed universities.
Deemed universities offering medical courses were operating with the sole intention of amassing wealth through unfair means, he alleged, adding that profiteering had become their sole objective.
“For the purpose of calculating tuition fee, the entire income of the medical college and its teaching hospital should be taken into consideration. Mere expenses alone should not be considered. Income tax department was aware of the concealment and falsification of financials of deemed universities, and the fact that what the deemed universities had revealed would not be the true picture,” Shanmugam claimed.
Though a few private medical colleges offered high quality education at an affordable cost, it had largely become a tool to establish a big empire and expand into diverse business activities, keeping the deemed university as the driving force. The exorbitant tuition fees charged went against the very principle and objective of running a charitable educational institution, he added.
Pointing out that the very objective of NEET-based admission itself was being defeated, he said, “The real merit-based admission even through NEET would have no meaning if the fee structure is not regulated.”
Interim Ruling Can Save Parents ₹50L/MBBS Seat
Sureshkumar.K@timesgroup.com
Chennai:
The cost of medical courses offered in deemed universities of Tamil Nadu is set to come down by at least ₹50 lakh, with the Madras high court fixing ₹13 lakh as the annual fee for these institutions.
The order is an interim measure till a final decision is taken by the fee fixation committee. However, since the ongoing rate is anywhere between ₹21 lakh and ₹22.5 lakh per annum, the overall saving for parents is expected to be about ₹50 lakh for five years. A similar fee cap exists in Kerala and for PG medical courses in Puducherry.
“It appears to us that fees varying between ₹25 lakh and ₹35 lakh per annum is prima facie high and the fee committee constituted by UGC ought to make an in-depth study and recommend the fees to be collected by institutions. Needless to mention that fees shall be regulated and streamlined considering all relevant factors. The UGC undertakes to constitute a committee forthwith in any case by June 30. The fee committee shall positively submit its report/recommendation within a period of six weeks,” said the first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice P T Asha on Friday. The bench made the decision after it was informed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) that the panel had earlier fixed ₹11.5 lakh as the fee for management quota seats in colleges under deemed universities.
Students may now be admitted subject to payment of ₹13 lakh on the condition that they would have to pay the balance if the sum fixed by the fee committee is higher. If the fee determined is lower, the students will be entitled for a refund, the bench said in the interim order.
Higher capitation fee in state likely
Since 13,000 more students have cleared NEET compared to last year and the total number of seats in the state is almost the same as last year, the order on fee cap in deemed universities could turn out to be a double whammy for TN medical aspirants as they may lose seats to higher ranked students from other states or end up paying illegal capitation fee. P 4
Annual med fee in K’taka is ₹6.83 lakh
The Fee Regulatory Committee of Karnataka has capped the maximum annual fee for a first-year Indian student of an undergraduate MBBS course in a private medical college in Karnataka at ₹6.83 lakh a year, and for a dental course at ₹4.63 lakh. The committee has allowed a maximum of 8% increase over the previous year’s fee.
‘Deemed univs offering med courses only to amass wealth’
The bench passed the order on a PIL moved by Jawaharlal Shanmugam charging that deemed universities concealed and falsified financials, and wanting the court to interfere and fix the fee structure for medical courses offered by deemed universities.
Deemed universities offering medical courses were operating with the sole intention of amassing wealth through unfair means, he alleged, adding that profiteering had become their sole objective.
“For the purpose of calculating tuition fee, the entire income of the medical college and its teaching hospital should be taken into consideration. Mere expenses alone should not be considered. Income tax department was aware of the concealment and falsification of financials of deemed universities, and the fact that what the deemed universities had revealed would not be the true picture,” Shanmugam claimed.
Though a few private medical colleges offered high quality education at an affordable cost, it had largely become a tool to establish a big empire and expand into diverse business activities, keeping the deemed university as the driving force. The exorbitant tuition fees charged went against the very principle and objective of running a charitable educational institution, he added.
Pointing out that the very objective of NEET-based admission itself was being defeated, he said, “The real merit-based admission even through NEET would have no meaning if the fee structure is not regulated.”
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