CHANDIGARH: The Punjab Government has reasonably increased the fees of medical colleges in the state. It was said by the Punjab Minister for Medical Education and Research Om Prakash Soni in a press note released here today. He seemed batting for private medical colleges.
Soni said that the Punjab government had earlier revised the fees of medical colleges in 2010 and 2015 which was much higher than the current increase.
He said that the opposition parties are making statements on the fee hike only for political gain. He said that the previous SAD-BJP government during its tenure had increased the fees by 98% in 2010 and 225% in 2015 whereas the present government has increased it by only 77%.
He said that the increase in fees was much needed and in this regard the Punjab government had asked the Advisory Committee on Medical Education headed by Dr. K.K Talwar to examine the matter and after thorough scrutiny, the Department had recommended the Punjab Government to increase the fees. Apart from this, it also came to the notice of the Government that due to the inflation the burden on the Government Colleges had increased many fold.
He said that the state government spends at least Rs. 13-14 lakh per annum on the education of a single doctor. He said that the fee for the entire course of MBBS in private health institution was many times higher than that of government medical colleges and the government had taken several steps to bring uniformity in the fees of these private health institution.
Soni said that the students in the Government Medical College would now complete four and a half year MBBS course at a total cost of Rs. 7.80 lakh as the annual fee of MBBS has been increased only to Rs. 1.50 lakh in first year.
He further said that before this private health institution used to charge the fee for the entire course of MBBS of five years which was rectified by our government and these medical college was restricted to charge a fee of four and a half years only.
The Medical Education Minister said that the state government has taken steps to ensure that poor students get quality education. He said that SC scholarship scheme is being run by the government, which will enable poor students to realize their dream of becoming doctors in future.
He said that presently there were three government medical colleges in the state and new medical College at Mohali will be started from next year, apart from this in next two years two new medical College will be started at Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala.
He said that increased fees would be charged from the new session and the increase in fees would not have any effect on the students who were already pursuing medical education.