Chandigarh, July 8
The Fee Fixation Committee of the Department of Medical Education has recommended drastic changes in the fee structure of medical, dental and homoeopathic colleges in
Punjab. The committee has also recommended an interim fee for nursing courses.
The recommendations are mandatory and applicable to all privately run medical institutions in the state.
The committee headed by Justice G.R. Majithia submitted its report to the state government today. Other members of the committee are Dr K.K. Talwar, Director, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGI), Prof R.P. Bambah, a former Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University, and Mr Amarjit Chopra, a senior chartered accountant from Delhi. The Secretary, Medical Education and Research, is its member-secretary.
The committee has recommended that Sri Guru Ram Dass Medical College (Amritsar) and Dayanand Medical College (Ludhiana) should charge an annual fee of Rs 1 lakh each for the MBBS course. It could not fix the fee for Christian Medical College (Ludhiana) as adequate data on the college was not available.
Privately managed medical colleges had been charging between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 3 lakh per annum from each of student. They refused to implement the interim recommendations, holding that Supreme Court directions had said the final recommendations were binding.
In its interim recommendation, the committee had fixed Rs 75,000, Rs 55,000 and Rs 35,000 as the annual fee for the MBBS, BDS and ayurvedic courses, respectively.
The fee committee could not make any recommendation on ayurvedic colleges. Since some of the nursing institutes were facing vigilance inquiries, the committee recommended an interim fee. For BSc and MSc (nursing courses), the annual fee would be Rs 30,000. For the GNM course, it would be Rs 25,000 while ANM students would pay a maximum of Rs 20,000 per annum.
Talking to The Tribune, Justice Majithia said that for various dental colleges, different fee structures had
been recommended because of variations in the infrastructure, staff and facilities available at the institutions concerned.
Dasmesh Dental College, Faridkot, is in the upper bracket which can charge an annual fee of Rs 92,500 from each BDS student. For Guru Nanak Dev Dental
Institute, Sunam, the committee recommended an annual fee of Rs 82,000. The annual fee recommended for other dental colleges is: Sri Guru Ram Dass Dental Institute (Amritsar) — Rs 78,000; Laxmibai Dental Institute (Patiala) — Rs 78,000; National Dental College (Dera Bassi) — Rs 68,500; and Desh Bhagat Dental College (Muktsar) — Rs 40,000.
Earlier, the Sunam college was charging Rs 1.32 lakh per annum from each student.
Justice Majithia said that in the case of the BHMS course, the committee had recommended for Guru Nanak Homoeopathy College (Ludhiana), an annual fee of Rs 12,000; for DM College (Ludhiana) Rs 31,500; for Lord Mahavira College (Ludhiana) Rs 17,500; for Homoeopathy College (Abohar) Rs 14,500; and for Kalyan Homoeopathy Institute (Tarn Taran) Rs 11,500.
Justice Majithia said that except in the case of Nursing courses, the fee recommendations were for the academic sessions 2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. Students could seek adjustment of the fee already paid by them during the first two years against the fee of the new academic year.
He said the committee was keen on submitting its recommendations before the counselling for the new academic session started tomorrow. The committee at its meeting held today directed the Department of Medical Education and Research to implement these recommendations immediately.
Further, the committee authorised the chairman to oversee the implementation of the report. The committee, Justice Majithia said, also had the right to review its recommendations if any of the medical institutions improved the infrastructure, the quality of staff and other facilities made available to students on the campus.
