Hyderabad: Students Protest Against Proposal to Hike Tuition Fee for PG Medical Seats

The medical students from Osmania Medical College and Gandhi Medical College staged a protest on April 26, 2017, at Gandhi hospital against the proposal made by Telangana Private Medical and Dental Colleges Association to hike the tuition fee for PG medical courses. The students claimed that if the government increases the tuition fee for PG seats that come under convener quota at private medical colleges, the medical education at PG level would become unaffordable.

The Telangana Private Medical and Dental Colleges Association wrote a letter to higher authorities in the second week of April seeking hike in the tuition fee for PG medical courses. The association claimed that it is very difficult to offer PG medical courses at private medical colleges under convener quota unless the government hikes the tuition fee.

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The students criticised that the hike proposed by the association is not judicial. Currently, the students are paying Rs. 3.2 lakh as the tuition fee per annum under convener quota. However, the association proposed Rs. 7 lakh per annum as the tuition fee for the upcoming academic session, i.e., 2017-18. On the other hand, the association suggested that the tuition fee under management quota must be increased from Rs. 5.8 lakh to Rs. 10 lakh.

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The students further expressed that the Fee Regulatory Authority fixed the fee for PG medical courses in 2016 and how could the association propose fee hike immediately. As per the rules, the association has to revise the fee structure every three years.

One of the members of the association indicated that it is becoming difficult for the private medical colleges to survive with the current fee structure. Therefore, they proposed for a fee hike from the next academic session.