Health ministry checks in to cap medical colleges' fees

In India, there is a cap of $1,20,000 for fees charged by medical colleges from NRI students.

NEW DELHI:  Parents of aspiring doctors will no longer have to shell out astronomical fees for medical colleges anymore if the government has its way. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has planned a policy initiative of putting a cap on the fees to be charged by all 439 private and government medical colleges across the country.

The current average fees charged by medical colleges is around Rs 50 lakh for MBBS courses. Though state and Central medical colleges charge less fees, private colleges are free to charge as much as they want.

Apart from this, the capitation fees charged by private medical colleges for management quota students is also a huge issue with children of not so well to do families suffering.

The measure to cap fees will be introduced as a part of the amendment to the Indian Medical Council Act, which the government plans to get cleared in the Winter Session of Parliament.

“The cap on the fees for a particular year would be decided on an annual basis by the Medical Council of India (MCI) or any new body which will replace it,” sources said.

In India, there is a cap of $1,20,000 for fees charged by medical colleges from NRI students.

The decision to bring amendments to the Bill was taken after a Parliamentary Standing Committee panned the system of giving clearances to medical colleges.

The committee had criticised the MCI saying that its total focus has been on the licensing of medical colleges and “ethics is completely lost out in this process”. It proposed that there should be two mechanisms for regulating the ethical code of doctors and medical education.

Following this, the Prime Minister’s Office formed a high-level committee headed by Niti Ayog chairperson Arvind Panagriya, which submitted draft recommendations to the PMO. The new draft MCI Amendment Bill has been formulated after considering all recommendations made by the committee.

The Niti Ayog report has also proposed a new regulatory structure in place of the MCI, which will comprise of a Medical Advisory Council (MAC) with representation from states and Union Territories. This is the council which will articulate the national agenda for medical education.

The National Medical Commission, which is to serve as the policy-making body for medical education, and four autonomous boards will be charged with undergraduate medical education, post-graduate medical education, medical assessment, rating and registration, and ethics.

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