ROHTAK: PGIMS dean (academic affiars) Dr S S Lohchab on Wednesday said they were not consulted by the state government before it implemented its controversial decision to increase the MBBS course fees by 20 times in government medical colleges.
Addressing a press conference at PGIMS here, Dr Lohchab, who is also the chairman of the counselling committee for MBBS students, said the government had enacted the fee hike policy, but he was not invited by the state government at any point for a suggestion. He added the aim of the state government behind the introduction of new policy was to make MBBS graduates from government medical colleges work in a government set-up.
MBBS students who cracked NEET recently, were baffled after the Haryana department of medical education and research issued a notification on November 6 to hike the course fee in government medical colleges. Many NEET candidates, who wanted to opt for a government medical college seat in the state, had expressed reservations pertaining to the new policy that mandated a payment of Rs 40 lakh during the four-year course.
On being asked why no job guarantee was given to MBBS students if the government wanted them to join, Dr Lohchab said the government might have some plans afoot to fix this. “The government may have medical colleges in each of the districts in the state and may increase the number of job vacancies for the passouts,” he added.
Asked whether PGIMS Rohtak was consulted on the policy, Dr Lohchab said he was not consulted in the capacity of dean academic affairs.
Admitting to the policy needing more clarity, Dr O P Kalra, vice-chancellor of University of Health Sciences in Rohtak, said they would write to the state government to provide them more information and clarity pertaining to the new batch of MBBS course students.
PGIMS former professor Dr Ranbir Singh Dahiya said the situation was so ironic that even the state’s largest medical college, which was also a health university, was not consulted before framing the policy. He said the university was an autonomous institution and, as per past precedents, each medical college should have been consulted while forming the policy.
The Haryana government had recently announced a humongous hike in the medical courses, which caused a big political and academic storm with the opposition parties joining the medical students and aspirants in the protests.