DEHRADUN: Deepak Singh Bisht, a first-year MBBS student in government medical college in Haldwani may not be able to pursue his studies further as his mother grapples hard to collect Rs 4.11 lakh for her fee instalment for the second year. He is not alone in facing the burden of unreasonable fees.
After the state government removed the condition of 'Bond' for a subsidized fee which was amounted to Rs 50,000 per year, the fee reached almost Rs 20 lakh.
"In the year 2019, the provision of the bond was removed from Dr Suheela Tiwari Government Medical College, Haldwani and Government Doon Medical College, Dehradun. Now, the fee structure for MBBS crosses over Rs 20 lakh in both the government colleges making them highest fee for MBBS among government medical colleges in the country. Many of us are groping in dark about how to pay the installments of our fee," said a first years student of government medical college in Dehradun on the condition of anonymity.
Students and their families told The New Indian Express that new fee structure has become unaffordable in these times of pandemic.
Demanding the resumption of a reasonable fee structure, students from both the state government colleges have written a letter to the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat who also heads the medical education department.
The letter mentioned that in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab the maximum amount reaches Rs 1.2 lakh which amounts to Rs 6 lakh in five years in comparison of Rs 20 lakh in Uttrakhand.
The students opposing the fee structure had taken to Twitter to express their demand for resumption of the old fee.
Earlier, undergraduate medical students of government medical colleges in Uttarakhand were made to sign a bond which included a condition of subsidized fee if they agree to serve at a government medical facility for 5-years of time after completing their course.
No government official was available for the comment in the matter.