NMC norms ignored; No fee cut for 50% seats in private medical colleges

Meanwhile, in the DMER notification on August 22 to regulate admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in the state, the fee structure for private medical colleges shows 5 per cent annual hike and there is no mention of the NMC guidelines.

The silence of the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER) on the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) new guidelines to reduce fee for half of the total approved seats in private medical colleges has left aspiring medical students confused.

In March, NMC announced to reduce the seats in private medical institutes by 50 per cent, i.e. to the level of government institutes from this academic year. The announcement came following an announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Private medical colleges challenged NMC guidelines

Meanwhile, in the DMER notification on August 22 to regulate admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in the state, the fee structure for private medical colleges shows 5 per cent annual hike and there is no mention of the NMC guidelines.

Dr Avnish Kumar, Director, Medical Education and Research, Punjab, told The Tribune that the department was yet to take a decision in this regard as some private medical colleges across the country had challenged the NMC guidelines.

Fee in private medical colleges, INR 52.60 lakh

In the DMER’s notification, the full MBBS course fee in three government medical colleges in the state is Rs 8.62 lakh. The fee in private medical colleges is Rs 52.60 lakh for the management quota and Rs 20.45 lakh for the government quota seats, respectively.

Based on their scores, a student will be first offered a seat in government medical colleges. Next, a seat in private medical colleges (on the fee at par with the government colleges), according to the NMC guidelines. In Punjab, 11 medical institutes offer 1,650 MBBS seats.

However, in the notification issued by the DMER, there is no seat in private medical colleges which has a fee structure at par with government ones.

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