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New Delhi: Deemed universities in the state have hiked MBBS course fees to as high as ₹1.5 crore, with annual charges reaching up to Rs 30.5 lakh. Experts warn that such steep increases could discourage many aspirants from pursuing a medical career altogether.
Since 2015, tuition fees at deemed universities increased by up to 200% from an average annual fee of 10 lakh. “While self-financing colleges are forced to follow the fee fixed by fee committee, there are no regulations for deemed universities.
After a series of court judgments, it was hoped that the govt would come up with some regulation to cap the fee for all deemed universities. But to no avail,” Student Counsellor Manickavel Arumugam told TOI.
In 2019, the University Grants Commission (UGC) proposed setting up a fee committee to regulate fees across all deemed universities. The proposal also included a penalty of ₹10 lakh, along with a refund of any excess fees and possible punitive action against non-compliant colleges.
Parents say that beyond tuition fees, institutions charge separately for lab, library, hostel, mess, and other services—adding up to an extra ₹2.5 lakh. “Students and parents should not just go by the announcement on the webpage. They should read the college prospectus carefully,” NEET Coach Sathish Kumar R told TOI.
Doctors’ bodies, including the state unit of the Indian Medical Association and the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors’ Association, attribute the situation to an oversaturation in most medical fields.
To prevent an oversupply of practitioners, they have recommended reducing the intake of new medical students, imposing a ban on establishing new medical colleges, and restricting the admission of foreign-trained doctors.
“TN has more than 1.8 lakh doctors registered in the medical council and among them, at least 1.5 lakh are practising. The recommended ratio of doctors is 1:1000. We have 1 per 600,” said Former State Medical Council President Dr K Senthil, also President of the TN Government Doctors’ Association.
The southern states must use this as an opportunity to increase PG and super specialty seats, he said. While doctors have opportunities to practice in other states, most doctors say these regions don’t have good schooling and healthcare facilities for their families.
