AP private medical colleges say govt-approved fee structure not viable, refuse admission

Vijayawada: Unhappy with the fee structure approved by the state government, the association of private medical and dental colleges in Andhra Pradesh, on 29 May, decided not to admit students to the postgraduate courses for the academic year 2020-21.

On Friday, the Andhra Pradesh Private Medical and Dental Colleges Management's Association (APPMDCMA) withdrew from Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences counselling process for admission to postgraduate medical and dental courses.

In a letter to the special chief secretary of the state health and family welfare department, the secretary of APPMDCMA, Mr. Ganni Kasimbi, said that the fee structure for postgraduate medical courses is almost 40 per cent less than the fee of the past four years, while it is 60 per cent less for dental courses.

Mr Kasimbi said the government has also not taken into account the expenditure incurred on various services provided to the students, depreciation values on equipment, infrastructure, horticulture, and other maintenance costs. He also said that the total annual fee per student does not even amount to 20 per cent of the stipend paid to the students in pre-clinical courses and 40 per cent in para-clinical subjects.

The private unaided non-minority medical and dental colleges in the state are going through a very difficult period due to the pandemic. The hospitals of private institutions have been taken over by the government to provide services to COVID-19 patients. Non- COVID patients are not being admitted and no revenue is being generated from hospitals, he added.

The Andhra Pradesh government, on Friday, fixed the fees for PG medical courses in private unaided non-minority and minority colleges for the period 2020-21 to 2022- 23. For the clinical degree, the fee has been fixed at Rs. 4.32 lakh for category A convener quota, Rs. 8.64 lakh for category B management quota, and Rs. 50 lakh for category C, i.e. NRI/institutional quota.

For para clinical degree and diploma, the fee is Rs. 1.35 lakh for category A, Rs. 2.7 lakh for category B, and Rs. 15 lakh for category C. Meanwhile, for the pre-clinical degree, the fee is Rs. 61,200 for category A, Rs. 1,22,400 for category B, and Rs. 8 lakh for category C.

The Andhra Pradesh government has also fixed the fees for postgraduate dental courses in private unaided non-minority colleges for the period 2020-21 to 2022-23. For the clinical degree, the fee is Rs. 2.97 lakh for category A, while it is Rs. 5.94 lakh and Rs. 12 lakh for category B and category C, respectively. For para-clinical degree, the fee is Rs. 2.67 lakh for category A, Rs. 4.34 lakh for category B, and Rs. 7 lakh for category C.

The government has listed 14 PG medical colleges and 13 PG dental colleges in the state and the fee structure is applicable to all these colleges.