Private Medical Colleges in Maharashtra Directed to Charge Uniform Fee
- Fee Regulatory Authority (FRA) of Maharashtra directed the private medical colleges to charge a uniform fee for merit, NRI and management quota seats.
- The colleges are against the decision of FRA and are planning to approach Bombay HC.
The Fee Regulating Authority (FRA) for medical courses in Maharashtra has come up with an initiative to curtail medical colleges charging crores of rupees for medical seats under NRI,Merit and Management quotas. FRA has been appointed by the state government to decide the tuition fees for all professional colleges in Maharashtra. The authority pointed that the fees for PG medical courses must be quota-blind. According to the observation made by FRA, medical colleges had set the fee structure for NRI, merit and management seats at three to four times than the merit/ state quota fees.
Based on the previous experiences, FRA has directed the medical colleges to charge a uniform fee for PG medical seats under management, merit and NRI quota. An official circular has also been issued to colleges in this regard. However, the circular has not been received well by the college management. Many of the colleges are even refrained from participating in the admission process for this year. These colleges are waiting for government’s response.
Also Read: NEET-based PG Medical Admissions in Gujarat Expected to be Delayed
Even though FRA has made uniform fee structure for management and NRI and management quota mandatory, many of the experts were of the opinion that FRA might implement the same for UG medical courses too. Witnessing the latest developments and uncertainty surrounding the issue, many college managements have threatened to shut down their campuses and not hold admission process this year.
Responding to the issue, Directorate of Medical Education (DMER), Dr. Praveen Shingare revealed that he had received a letter from the FRA stating that the medical fees for all the three categories such as NRI quota, institutional seats and merit seats will be the same. He had already taken up the issue with the state government. However, the private college managements are planning to approach the court challenging the decision of FRA.
Also Read: Telangana Gets 27 Additional PG Medical Seats
Usually, private medical colleges in Maharashtra reserve 15% seats for NRI candidates, 35% for management quota and 50% seats under merit quota. The fee structure for merit quota will be decided by the state government, while colleges have the freedom to fix fee structure for NRI and management quota seats. However, FRA was of the opinion that since all the students are admitted on the basis of NEET merit, the colleges can fix uniform fee for all category seats.