Parents, students protest medical fee hike

 Parents, students protest medical fee hike 

Ahmedabad : A day after the fees for around 1,200 private medical, dental and paramedical colleges as well as 15 ayurvedic colleges in Gujarat were raised, parents and students protested at the fee regulatory committee (FRC) office on Saturday. The FRC announced new fees for medical colleges for 2024-25 and paramedical and dental colleges for the next three years, with increases ranging from 2% to 25%, averaging 12%. The new fee structures do not apply to the 13 medical colleges run by Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS). 

Ayurvedic colleges have seen fees hiked by up to 80%. Protesters argued that the steep increase would push middle-class students to pursue medical education abroad as many can no longer afford local fees. A similar hike in GMERS medical colleges had already sparked protests, leading to a partial rollback. The new increases in private colleges are adding to the financial burden on families, said protestors. Demonstrators gathered at the FRC office, and left a memorandum outside as the office was closed. The memorandum demanded a rollback, stating the fee hike is unjustifiable.