Delay in payment of fee of CENTAC- sponsored students under Perunthalaivar Kamaraj Financial Assistance Scheme admitted in 2011-2012 and 2012-2013 resulted in repeated harassment of students by the management of self-financing institutions.
The government had postponed the fee payment stating that the government order was being amended.
A total of 53 CENTAC-sponsored students of Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday came knocking at the doors of Chief Minister N Rangasamy after they were disallowed from entering the college due to non-payment of fee. This includes seven girls from Mahe and Yanam. These students belonged to the batch admitted to the college in 2012-2013 and are now in the second year of MBBS.
Last year as well as in the current year, the government had sent a circular to all the private medical colleges directing them not to collect the tuition fee from the CENTAC- sponsored students as it will be remitted by the government. The College had waited, but even after a year with no fees having been paid, the management decided to allow students to enter college only after they pay entire fee.
This included the first year fee as well as second year fee, which comes to Rs 5 lakh for this college.
Some of the self-financing medical colleges have collected the full dues from the students at the fag end of the year before they wrote the university examination, while other colleges are still waiting for the fee to be paid up by the government and are periodically exerting pressure.
Sources said that Srilakshminarayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Arupadai Veedu Medical college and Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute have been pressuring the students to pay up the fee. Each time after the government intervention, they become quiet for some time to spark off again.
On Wednesday afternoon, students met Chief Minister at his chamber accompanied by V Balasubramanian, president of Pondicherry Students and Parents Welfare Association, and Kalyanam and Kumar, general secretaries of CENTAC Students Welfare Association. Following this, the Chief Minister spoke to the management of the institution and assured that the fee would be paid shortly. The students were thereafter taken, but the college management refused to collect the additional fee to be paid by the students till the government remits its portion of the fee.
The government maintained that the delay is on account of the move to raise the assistance to Rs 2.25 lakh per student from the present Rs 1.75 lakh income limit below Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh for those whose income exceeds Rs 50,000. A new GO is being issued by amending the existing GO, as per the announcement made by the CM in the Assembly after he returned to power, officials of the administration said. The enhanced amount would be given effect from the batch of students admitted from 2011-2012. Already Rs 57 crore had been earmarked for the scheme in the budget.
In this circumstance, till a decision is made there will be uncertainty on the future of students.