PUDUCHERRY: The Puducherry State Student and Parents Welfare Association has urged the chairman of the fee committee for medical colleges not to enhance the fees for various courses for the current academic year till existing concerns are addressed by the private colleges.
In a memorandum to the chairman V Balasubramaniam, the association’s president emphasised that the fee committee, chaired by a retired judge, should consider not only infrastructure and financial reports but also the number of seats private colleges offer under the government quota.
A pressing concern is the decision by some private colleges to stop offering government quota seats for postgraduate students from the 2024-25 academic year.
This issue is under review by the LG and the government. He said that National Medical Commission regulations for 50% seats under government quota, the disparity in government quota seats offered by private colleges in Puducherry was just 35% compared to neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, which allocate 50% to 65% of seats to the government.
In October 2022, the fee committee noted that private institutions had not provided segment-wise financial statements, complicating income and expense assessments.
Consequently, the government maintained the fee structure due to insufficient justification for proposed hikes. According to the association, the issue still persists.
Concerns were also raised about lack of stipends for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as mandated by NMC. The association revealed that colleges have been collecting fees from fifth year students during their internship.