MUMBAI: With the Maharashtra
fee regulating authority (FRA) bringing management and
NRI quota medical seats under its ambit, the cost of
medical education in the state is expected to go down slowly. Henceforth, fees earned under the heads of management and ‘NRI quota’ by private colleges will be regulated by the government in a mechanism aimed at cross-subsidising merit seats.
This is because the FRA has also capped the increase in
college’s annual income to maximum 20% per year, factoring in a 10% rise for inflation. Till now private colleges did not show fees of NRI and management quota students as part of annual income, but would hike fees of merit students citing rising costs. Under the FRA’s three-tier fee structure, NRI fees will make up for the moderation in tuition fees for merit students. A college can now charge NRI quota students up to five times the fees of merit students while management quota students can be charged up to three times.
Now, with each passing year, the count of NRI students will increase so will the income, which will lead to drop in fees. An FRA member said, “On an average there will be a 20% reduction in fees every year. Students joining a medical college after four years are likely to see the maximum benefit as fees across the board would have almost halved from what they are now.”
This year too, some colleges saw a dip in fees permitted by the FRA. For instance, MBBS fees of K J Somaiya Medical College fell from Rs 9.2 lakh for 2017 to Rs 7.5 lakh in 2018. Similar is the case with post-graduate (PG) fees. Annual PG fees have reduced from Rs 10.4 lakh for merit students to Rs 8.2 lakh. The college charged Rs 55 lakh to students for NRI seats and to those occupying the institution quota.
Similarly, fees at NKP Salve College has dropped from Rs 9.3 lakh to Rs 8 lakh for the MD programme; MIMER-Latur fees is down to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 5.8 lakh last year.
In a recent circular, the FRA informed medical colleges that fees for NRI seats and for the institution quota must be declared before admissions start. Last year, while medical colleges had charges three times the fee of merit quota to those seeking admission under the institution quota and five times of state quota fees to NRI candidates. The year's income and expenditure statement submitted by colleges reflect the same.
But many colleges’ balance sheets show that students have been given seats on ad-hoc fees. “Colleges have claimed that students and parents negotiated the rates and some took admission at lower fees than what was set. Colleges claimed that they relented in a bid to fill seats,” said an FRA source. The colleges have the option to surrender unfilled seats under NRI and institution quotas and take more students as per the merit quota fees.
Before 2017, colleges conducted their own admission as students were not admitted through NEET. Experts said many colleges charges NRI fees in cash. Baring one or two colleges of Maharashtra, most others did not record a high NRI fee collection.
This year, the FRA has informed colleges that negotiation would not be permitted. “How do we know if colleges took a portion of the fee in cash? There will be no scope for any reduction in declared fees from now. If fee is reduced at the college level, the FRA will still consider the full fee that was declared. The discount will be the college’s loss,” the FRA has informed the colleges.
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