Fee difference for medical education driving pupils to foreign shores

Sukhmeet Bhasin & Parveen Arora
Tribune News Service
Bathinda/Karnal, February 25

The biggest reason for Indian students opting for medical education in Ukraine is that the fee there is almost one-third of what is charged by private medical colleges here.

Costs half the price

The MBBS course fee is around Rs 30 lakh in Ukraine, while it ranges from Rs60 lakh to Rs80 lakh in private institutes of Haryana. — Viresh Kumar Jain, Haryana resident

Dr Raj Bahadur, Vice Chancellor (VC), Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, said, “The fee in private medical colleges here is Rs 6 lakh per year, but colleges are charging around Rs 8-9 lakh per year. The matter is under study in a court. Moreover, this fee does not include hostel and food charges, so the total cost for the MBBS course per student is around Rs 50 lakh in private colleges here.”

Dr Raj Bahadur said, “Students go to Ukraine for the MBBS course because the fee there is less when compared to what is charged by private colleges here. It is also easy for them to get admission in any institute there. In India, admissions are through the NEET merit list. In Ukraine, a student just has to qualify NEET.”

Dr Dheeraj Sharma from Tapa Mandi, whose son is stranded in Ukraine, said, “There is a big difference in the fee. In Ukraine, it works out to less than one-third of what we are charged on different pretexts by the colleges here. There the fee is Rs 3-4 lakh annually. Also, there is a big variation in fee charged by different private medical colleges in our country.”

Fifth-year MBBS student Ria, who recently returned to her home in Karnal, said, “If a student has to get admission in a government-run medical college or university here, he/she has to secure a good rank. If the student fails to do so, he/she takes admission in a private institute where the tuition fee is very high. Before exploring the option of Ukraine, my family had inquired from private institutes. The tuition fee ranged from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 20 lakh per year, while in Ukraine, the complete course fee is between Rs 25-30 lakh.”

Viresh Kumar Jain, father of Bhavya Jain who is in first year of the MBBS course in Ukraine, said a degree from there was globally accepted. “The MBBS course fee is around Rs 30 lakh in Ukraine, while it ranges from Rs 60 lakh to Rs 80 lakh in private institutes of Haryana.”