Maharashtra: Medical Colleges Overcharging under the Management Quota to be Penalised
- Colleges charging fees more than limit set by FRA to be penalised.
- Medical institutes will have to declare management quota fee before admissions.
- The aim is to remove corruption and exploitation practices.
Maharashtra Government has decided to keep a check on deemed and private medical institutes that charge management quota fee exceeding the amount decided by the Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA).
The government has declared that strict action will be taken against colleges that violate FRA norms. Not only will a fine be imposed against colleges that violate the rules but admissions will also be cancelled, informed Director of Maharashtra’s Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), Pravin Shinghare.
DMER has made it mandatory for private and deemed institutions to declare the management quota fee charged for admissions for both PG and UG admissions. The step has been taken to introduce transparency and eradicate corruption from medical admissions.
The management quota fee submitted by colleges will be displayed on DMER website. Colleges failing to submit the same will not be eligible to conduct admissions. Few of the colleges have already submitted the fees amount to DMER.
According to the data provided by DMER:
- D Y Patil Medical College, Pune, charges up to Rs. 25 lakh from the native students of the state, whereas, the fees charged for NRI quota is Rs. 75 lakh.
- Similarly, students applying through NRI quota have to pay Rs. 54 lakh at Bharati Vidyapeeth University Medical College, Pune.
- Merit quota students who enroll at S K Navale Medical University, Pune, will have to pay Rs. 9 lakh, whereas, fees for management quota is Rs. 95 lakh.
Some of the institutes charge differently for different PG courses offered under management quota. It will be the FRA’s decision that will decide whether this is allowed or not. Fees charged under the different quotas will be declared on the website of DMER.
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Shinghare informed that according to a Supreme Court verdict, private and deemed colleges can adopt a cross-subsidy model basis which the institutes can charge 5-times the base fee from students applying for admission through NRI quota. Institutes exceeding this limit will be penalised, Shinghare added.
However, an FRA member informed that the SC verdict will not be applicable for the Maharashtra colleges as they come under the regulation of Maharashtra Educational Institutions Act.
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Private medical colleges have declared that they are willing to make changes to the fees charged under management quota according to the norms of the government. However, the colleges have stated that the fees should be fixed according to the cost of medical education incurred by the government colleges.