As per the reports, the Board of Governors led the MCI who have been now given a major task by the Union Ministry of Health to come up with different ways to reduce the extremely high costs of Medical Education in India.
The matter had been a severe apple of discord between the Ministry and the former MCI which had denied hindering the fee structures of MBBS at private medical colleges which indicates a lack of mandate.
The steadily increasing fees for medical courses for MBBS and PG have indeed been a matter of concern in the field of Medical Education. Roy Choudhury Committee and the Parliamentary Standing Committee showed their concerns about the high fee structure of medical education for students and gave suggestions in favor of capping the fees.
Previously, the capitation fee was an issue with the arrival of NEET, the official MBBS fee at most of the private medical colleges is extremely high. The entire course fee crosses over Rs. 1 crore in many of the private medical colleges of India. This is bound to create some financially burdened doctors who remain in the debt trap for a long period of time.
“What would such a student think of when he or she gets out of the system and starts practicing? The high cost of medical education in the Indian private sector is leading to malpractices. A student who has paid through the nose to study medicine is vulnerable to compromising medical ethics to recover huge costs. Students naturally avail of education loans to pay that kind of fees,” Ministry source informed.
To manage the issue of high fees, many states were then seen appointing Fee Regulation Committees to determine the fee structure at private medical colleges and deemed universities of India. Nevertheless, despite their interference on a policy level, there seems to be a huge conflict for the cost of medical education across various states in India.
One of the main reasons for the chaos stands as the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 is quiet on the issue of the fee that is supposed to be charged at medical colleges.
The forthcoming National Medical Commission is going to try to address the issue. While the capping fee is still out, the government under the National Medical Commission (NMC) can dictate guidelines for fees up to 40% of seats in private medical colleges.
Till the bill becomes a reality, the Ministry of Health has directed the MCI BOG to come up with solutions.
