Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service
Faridkot, May 26
In the draft of its guidelines for the determination of fee for MBBS and MD/MS courses in private medical colleges, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has recommended no institution should charge capitation fee in any form.
For the determination of fee, it needs to be ensured that the principle of the education being “not-for-profit” is strictly adhered to.
“It is necessary that whereas all operating costs and other expenses for running and maintenance of the institution for imparting medical education on a sustainable basis are covered in the fee, no excessive expense and exorbitant profit component should be allowed to be added to it,” read the draft guidelines issued by the NMC, inviting public comments, on Wednesday.
In July last year, the Union Health Ministry had set up a “fee guidelines” draft to streamline the fee in private medical and deemed universities for UG, PG medical and dental courses. The revised or streamlined fee will be imposed on the private medical colleges from 2021-22 academic session, said sources.
The NMC has also stated that medical colleges cannot add the cost of running a hospital to the cost for providing medical education. Only the portion of hospital resources used for teaching can be factored in while computing fee. However, if a hospital is running at a loss, then the State Fee Regulatory Authority can allow up to 20 per cent of the costs of the hospital to be counted as part of the operating cost of the medical college.
“Even the stipends paid to PG students on residency cannot be included in the operation cost of the medical college and will be counted as the hospital’s expenses,” read the draft. The NMC has also asked medical colleges to not charge exorbitant amounts as a security deposit or caution money and the fee will be based mainly on the “operating cost” of the institution. The draft has computed the “operation cost” of a medical college in its seven-page draft guidelines.
The draft read that the fee can be fixed “for a block” of three years or annually. The guidelines allow colleges to charge security deposits or caution money, provided they are not “exorbitant” and “development fee at the rate of 6% to 15% of the operating cost can be added for meeting the development expenditure for growth and expansion of the medical college”.
“The fee determined on the basis of these guidelines should not be more than the existing fee determined by the State Fee Regulatory Authority,” read the document. The total sanctioned roll-strength will be a factor in determining the cost-per-student for both MBBS and PG courses.
Stipends not part of running cost