To ensure better medical education and infrastructure facilities for students, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday decided to increase the fee for the MBBS course in government and private medical colleges.
According to a spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office, the fee for the MBBS course in the state for government medical colleges was last notified in 2015 and for private colleges in 2014.
With the massive surge in the price index in the years thereafter, these colleges are facing fiscal problems and are unable to meet the norms of Medical Council of India, thus necessitating a fee hike, the spokesperson said.
These colleges had, in fact, been seeking fee hike for a long time as they were facing hardships to provide good infrastructure and impart quality education to the students at the current fee rates, he added.
The annual MBBS fee in Punjab was Rs 13,000 in 2010, which currently is Rs 1.56 lakh.
The Punjab government two days ago had given the go-ahead to the fee hike in the state medical colleges.
The fee in Haryana ranges from Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000. In Rohtak’s PGI, the annual fee is Rs 38,600. In Rajasthan, the annual fee is Rs 33,500, according to the state Medical Education Department.
State/UT Annual fee
Punjab Rs 1.56 lakh
Chandigarh Rs 23,000
Haryana Rs 48,000
Himachal Rs 60,000
Rajasthan Rs 33,500
IMA MSN Punjab spear-heading the agitation:
INDIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION - MEDICAL STUDENTS NETWORK were one of the first to voice out against the fee hike by Punjab state government.
IMA-MSN State President, Ganeev Singh said, "The organization condemns the lack of measures taken by the Punjab government for its healthcare workers and the draconian fee hike is an insult to injury."
Singh requested three things from Punjab government:
- Scrapping the fee hike in Govt. and Pvt. Colleges for MBBS which has now made it impossible for the common man to afford the course.
- Ensuring equal Stipend is paid to all Interns who are the fronline warriors in the battle against COVID 19
- Regulation in the exorbitant fee for PG courses in Medicine
IMA MSN PUNJAB,State Patron, Dr Tanveer singh Dahiya said, "The inexplicable decision for the sudden hike in the fee structure by the Punjab Government is draconian. The 80% jump in fees cannot be justified by any plausible reason nor does it have any hard statistical data to base it upon. I would like to call every doctor, medical student and all the UG-NEET aspirants to stand united against this unjust decision of the sudden and exorbitant increment in the student fee and oppose it as a united front."
IMA-MSN Punjab State General Secretary, Dr. Rakesh Koul said, "It is pitty that govt of Punjab has made a sudden hike in fee for admission in Medical colleges.
This way it will become a rich man's profession only and the poor can only dream about it! It will also lead to a great loss in medical facilities in the long run!
We request the govt to roll back the fee hike and make MEDICAL EDUCATION AFFORDABLE TO all."
"If it continues to remain the same, nobody will opt for medical profession thereby creating a great dearth of Efficient doctors who are considered as the Real Fighters especially during this pandemic. Also, the stipend given to doctors is not same throughout . Recently the punjab govt announced a stipend of 15k for interns but some colleges are paying almost half of the same amount to interns," he added.
Dr. Rakesh also said, "All the interns worked very hard during the course to the same extent and possess equivalent degrees. Then why this discrepancy. This will demoralise them especially when they are working day and night during this COVID 19 outbreak to save the precious lives of others.
It is therefore requested to treat all at par!"
Medical Students Request Captain Amarinder:
The students of Government Medical College (GMC) on Sunday wrote to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Medical Education and Research Minister O P Soni and the Ministry of Family and Health Welfare, urging them to reduce MBBS fee in the state.
As per the cabinet decision of May 27, the fee for a full five-year course in government-run medical colleges from this session will be ₹7.8 lakh – a hike of around 80% from the previous ₹4.4 lakh.
Amritsar Medical Students’ Association President, Dr Vaibhav Chawla said, “The decision of fee hike has aroused immense despair among the medical fraternity. The move will make medical education impossible for the middle class and economically weaker strata. We request the CM to roll back the MBBS fee in Punjab.”
State IMA seeks rollback of fee hike:
The state unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) through its President, Dr Navjot Singh Dahiya and General Secretary, Dr Paramjit Mann in a press release have condemned the exorbitant fee hike for medical students in the state.
The IMA office-bearers maintained that the fee hike of such magnitude would virtually play havoc with the medical education by causing scarcity of medical professionals, which would ultimately hit the healthcare services by making both medical education as well as access to the healthcare services out of the reach of the common man.
Watch Video:
Opposition on MBBS Fee Hike:
President of Shiromani Akali Dal, Sukhbir Singh Badal slammed Punjab State government and retweeted INDIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION - MEDICAL STUDENTS NETWORK (IMA MSN) Punjab's tweet. Badal wrote, "@Akali_Dal_ core committee has taken strong notice of Punjab govt’s decision to increase #MBBS fee by 80 %. We will take up this issue forcefully in coming days & compel the govt to withdraw this anti-people step."
.@Akali_Dal_ core committee has taken strong notice of Punjab govt’s decision to increase #MBBS fee by 80 %. We will take up this issue forcefully in coming days & compel the govt to withdraw this anti-people step. https://t.co/wVfM5rGzg3
— Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) May 31, 2020
Union Cabinet Minister, Harsimrat Kaur Badal also took to twitter and slammed Punjab's state government. She wrote, "80% hike in MBBS course fee in Pb during pandemic is a great injustice on parents of med students. SAD expresses solidarity with IMA-MSN & will work to ensure this draconian decision is withdrawn.We also demand equal stipend for all interns & rationalisation of fee for PG courses."
80% hike in MBBS course fee in Pb during pandemic is a great injustice on parents of med students. SAD expresses solidarity with IMA-MSN & will work to ensure this draconian decision is withdrawn.We also demand equal stipend for all interns & rationalisation of fee for PG courses https://t.co/lTY0Qq4s2h
— Harsimrat Kaur Badal (@HarsimratBadal_) May 31, 2020