Kerala government will move the Supreme Court in appeal against the order of the High Court that paved the way for a hike in the MBBS fee structure. The HC order was based on the demand of self-financing medical colleges. State Health Minister KK Shailaja, however, has said that the government will challenge the order. "Some self-financing college managements have been trying to scuttle the admission procedures every year which cannot be accepted. By this, they are challenging the students who seek admission for MBBS," the minister said in a statement on Wednesday.
The HC on November 13 had ordered the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations (CEE) to issue notification of the maximum fee the colleges can charge as proposed by the managements. Based on the court order, the CEE on Wednesday (November 19) issued fee structure for 18 out of 19 colleges, reports the Hindu.
The fee structure of these colleges was over three times what had been fixed by the R Rajendra Babu Fee Regulatory Committee for medical education. The CEE has also announced one more chance for the students to register their options as the college managements demanded a hike in the free structure. With this, the students will have fresh options till Thursday. The first allotment list will be published on Friday.
As per the fee structure finalised by the committee, the annual fee ranges from Rs 6.22 lakh to Rs 7.68 lakh in the general category, while it is Rs 20 lakh for the Non Resident Indians (NRI) category.
The HC, however, has considered the managements stand that 'the hospital has to be treated as a separate establishment of the college and its profit or loss can't have any bearing on the fee payable by the students’. The court also directed the fee regulatory committee to consider the same.
The CEE, following this, has issued a tentative fee structure that ranges from Rs 7.65 lakh to Rs 20.7 lakh in the general category and from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 34 lakh for NRI category.