Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta on Thursday, September 15, said the fees for 50 per cent seats in private medical colleges in the state will be fixed in line with that of government medical colleges.
The move would help address the shortage of doctors in medical colleges of the state and also benefit medical students who returned from war-torn Ukraine, besides others, a statement issued by Gupta’s camp office in Jharkhand said, as stated in a report by PTI.
In a tweet in Hindi, Gupta said, “Now in 50 per cent of seats in private medical colleges and deemed medical colleges of Jharkhand the fees will be fixed in line with government medical colleges, this will remove the shortage of doctors in Jharkhand’s medical colleges and students who have returned from Ukraine, besides other students, will get benefit,” as per PTI.
In a letter to the Additional Chief Secretary (Health department), Gupta directed him to implement the new system in the state on the basis of recommendation made by National Medical Commission (NMC).
Other states
The Madhya Pradesh government had earlier issued a notification on September 13, for implementation of the NMC’s Bill regarding the fee regulation guidelines, becoming the first state to do so after Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Additionally, groups of private medical colleges challenged the memorandum in the High Courts of both Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Madras High Court last month, while reserving order on a plea filed by a group of private medical colleges challenging this fee fixation, asked how the Council could charge more fees from 50 per cent of students and less from the other 50 per cent, as stated in a report by LiveLaw.in. It also asked how the system would work if the colleges were not able to fill the remaining 50 per cent seats in the high fees category, the report stated.
To reiterate, the Bill insists that the fee for 50 per cent of seats in private medical colleges and Deemed-to-be Universities must be on par with the fee in government medical colleges in the respective State or Union Territories, according to the memorandum issued in February this year.