Government Medical Colleges in Karnataka may increase the course fees, introduce NRI seats.
The Karnataka state government is planning to increase the fees for medical courses in government colleges by 200 per cent, according to the information by the Medical Education Minister to the Legislative Council during the ongoing winter session. Apart from this, the government also considers providing admission to Non-Resident Indian (NRI) students at state government medical colleges from the academic year 2019-20.
There are 16 government medical colleges in the state. As per the information, the government considers to increase the annual fee for undergraduate courses from the existing Rs 17,000 to Rs 50,000, and for post-graduate courses from the existing Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh. The reason for the hike is to meet the fund requirements of the government colleges pertaining to the quality of education and extending the facilities to the employees at the colleges. “The move to consider NRI quota in government colleges is a major decision”, the minister added.
But the students feel this would make it difficult for impoverished, meritorious students to pursue a career in medicine. A professor of Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) said that introducing NRI quota in government medical colleges would affect meritorious students as the number of government seats would reduce significantly. Currently, NRI quota seats cost anywhere between ₹22 lakh and ₹42 lakh in private medical colleges.
“While the hike in fees was justified, introducing NRI quota in government colleges was unacceptable, particularly at a time when the institutional quota seats were up for grabs for students from across the country with the introduction of National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test. However, hiking fees may be the need of the hour as stipends have increased. Increasing fees may also help improve the infrastructure of colleges and give a facelift to hostels,” said Dr Gautham Balaji, member, Indian Medical Association (Junior Doctors’ Association), Karnataka branch.
Source: 1. Times of India
2. The Hindu