BHUBANESWAR: Terming the recent fee hike in medical colleges of the state as illegal, parents and members of the Odisha Abhibhabak Mahasangh on Monday sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to withdraw the revised fee structure.
Staging a dharna near Jayadev Bhawan in this regard on Monday, the parents alleged that the fee for admission to MBBS seats in some of the private medical colleges in the state had been increased by 100 per cent. They further claimed that the hike was not disclosed in the brochure during the choice-filling and locking, which was a violation of the Supreme Court’s order mandating publication of the full fee structure before admission.
“Many meritorious students, especially those from the economically weaker sections, are facing significant difficulties due to this illegal fee hike. Had the revised fee been announced earlier, the students would have taken a conscious decision during the counselling process,” said a member of the Mahasangh. The protesters sought immediate rollback of the revised fee structure introduced from the current academic session.
As per the modified fee structure notified by the SDTE department, the fee for MBBS course at High-Tech medical college and hospital (MCH) in Bhubaneswar will be Rs 11.56 lakh instead of Rs 6.5 lakh with effect from the 2025-26 academic session.
Similarly, the MBBS course fee for High-Tech MCH at Rourkela is Rs 8.54 lakh instead of Rs 5.5 lakh and that of PG in clinical and para clinical is Rs 12.81 lakh and Rs 6.41 lakh, respectively. In DRIEMS Institute of Health Sciences and Hospital, Cuttack, the fee for MBBS course has been hiked to Rs 9.08 lakh against the previous Rs 6.50 lakh.