Medical and dental students in Karnataka will now have to provide bank guarantee apart from paying the college fees. Candidates in the NRI quota and those who secure seats in the ‘other’ category in private MBBS colleges in Karnataka will have to furnish bank guarantee along with paying the tuition fees.
As part of the plan, students will be required to provide a bank guarantee for 3.5 years out of the total duration of 5.5 years. The first year and internship period have been excluded from this.
S. Kumar, executive secretary of Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMEDK), said that the practice is being adopted in wake of the increasing number of dropouts. The private medical colleges in Karnataka want to ensure that there is no impact on the college in terms of expenses if a student decides to leave midway through the course. He also said that this practice was within the legal framework.
However, the move has put a lot of pressure on the students who are unable to mobilise the funds and provide a guarantee. An MBBS student who got admission in the ‘other’ category for the 2019-2020 academic year expressed how the college is pushing constantly for providing a bank guarantee. The student, while expressing discontentment, also revealed that the first year fees has been paid by borrowing money from the relatives. Hence, showing bank guarantee for future payments is not possible.
A vice-chancellor of a deemed university said that the colleges had to resort to this as a precautionary measure as most of the students leave the college midway through the course to enrol in better colleges after retaking NEET examination.
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In private colleges, the government quota seat cost 1.11 lakh, whereas private seats cost 7.85 lakh per annum. The NRI quota and other seats are priced in the range of 25 lakh to 40 lakh per annum.
An official belonging to the medical education department, however, assured that private colleges asking for bank guarantee for government quota seats will face strict action as the practice is applicable on the more expensive seats.
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