Controversy over Fees Structure in Private Medical Colleges

The students are caught between the Karnataka state government and the Supreme Court. The Karnataka Governor T N Chaturvedi said that the colleges should abide by all conditions put forth by the CET Bill. On the other hand the private medical colleges have challenged the government. The CET Bill was passed in the Legislative Assembly amid an Opposition walkout. It was done to put an end to the controversy surrounding the fee structure in private medical and paramedical colleges in the state. This bill asked the private medical colleges in Karnataka to provide 50 % reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs and 15% for NRI students, which means 35 per cent seats will be available for general category students.

It also said that the admission and fees would be supervised by the government appointed committee. It said that for a medical seat a total of Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 4.6 lakh should be collected from the student. In reply the President, Private Medical Colleges Organisation S Shivashankarappa said that the college would not be able to cope with such low fees. But the state government is in no mood to relent and D H Shankaramoorthi, Minister, Higher Education said that the fees will be the same for all students and no discretion will be allowed.