Admissions start at med & dental pvt colleges, relief for 5k aspirants

Mumbai: In a relief to over 5,000 medical and dental aspirants, private colleges in the state resumed admissions Saturday morning, days after stalling the process over delayed disbursal of fee reimbursements from the govt. In a letter to the Association of Managements of Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges, the govt urged its departments to release funds and assured of follow-up with the Centre for their part of the reimbursements under various welfare schemes.
While the association has withdrawn their protest letter, they have asked the state govt to review the issue for a concrete solution before postgraduate admissions begin in the state. Members claimed the govt owed each of them around Rs 30-50 crore per annum, and some colleges have pending dues for over three to four years.
The association, in a fresh letter issued Saturday morning, mentioned they will re-participate in the process and complete it on time. The association also claimed they would continue to follow up with the govt at various levels. However, they have asked for a concrete solution before postgraduate admissions for 2024-25 start, to ensure a smooth process. They have urged the govt to hold a review meeting for the positive actions taken by them by then. The association members had stalled MBBS and BDS admission process at the institute-level from Oct 1, a day after the second merit list was out. They claimed their colleges have not been receiving govt reimbursements for 60-70% of their seats, and it has become difficult to sustain with rising costs.
They had apprised medical education minister Hasan Mushrif of their situation in a meeting on Sept 26.
For candidates taking admission in health science courses under various categories — SC, ST, OBC, and EWS — tuition fee is reimbursed as scholarship schemes through relevant departments. For SC and ST, a large part of reimbursements also comes from the Centre. At a meeting on Thursday, the medical education department urged other departments to review pending amounts and advised the departments to release them and request the Centre for the same.
In their letter to the association, the govt also reminded them that a delay in medical and dental admissions will also be a contempt of the Supreme Court mandate.