TN warns of action against medical and dental colleges demanding high fees

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu health department will either withdraw approval given to self-financing medical and dental colleges or cancel their affiliation if they are found guilty of demanding fees higher than the prescribed amount, health secretary P Senthil Kumar has warned. Legal action would also be initiated as per rules, he said.

In a two-page caution notice sent to self-financing colleges affiliated to the TN Dr MGR Medical University, Senthil Kumar said the state received many complaints from candidates last year stating that colleges were demanding exorbitantly high fees over the amount prescribed the fee fixation committee.

This year, fees of MBBS/BDS seats in all self-financing colleges in the state for all categories were increased by up to Rs 1 lakh. As per the new fee structure, students admitted to self-financing colleges under the government quota must pay anywhere between Rs 4.35 lakh to 4.50 lakh a year towards tuition fees. The fees for management quota is Rs 13.5 lakh, NRI category is Rs 24.5 lakh and NRI (lapsed) is Rs 21.50 lakh.

This amount, which includes tuition, admission, special laboratory, computer, library, internet sports, maintenance, and amenities fees besides extracurricular and other recurring expenditures for the colleges, came into effect this academic year. It will be valid for three years.

In addition to the above fees, the institution is permitted to collect an amount of Rs 40,000 per student as a development fee. However, the fees do not include hostel, transport and mess charges which are optional for the students.

Over the ten days, at least 50 students, who were allotted seats in different self-financing colleges, complained to the state selection committee that colleges were demanding fees higher than the prescribed fee. Admission to all colleges is done by the selection committee based on merit and rule of reservation and choice of students during the online counselling.

“Unfortunately, students don’t have fee receipts or any other evidence. But we have coordinated with colleges and ensured that the admission process is smooth in these cases as a first step because we did not want students to suffer. We have also received thank you letters from candidates. We were not able to act against complaints that were anonymous,” said selection committee secretary R Muthuselvan.

Complaints that had adequate details would be sent to the university and the fee committee for further action, he said.