Faridkot,
A month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the state government to shift 101 MBBS students (2014 batch) of Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), Pathankot, to other medical colleges in the state, the impending move has been opposed by some private medical colleges and the Punjab State Medical and Dental Teachers Association (PSMDTA).

The PSMDTA, a body of teaching faculty in government medical and dental colleges in the state, termed the shifting a “back-door” entry of mediocre students into government institutions.

“This exercise will not be fair to the meritorious students. Moreover, these students will pay just Rs26,250 per annum as tuition fee,” said Dr HS Sohal, president, PSMDTA.

Shifting of these 101 students will be followed by shifting of 150 students of the 2016 batch.

For 500 MBBS seats in three government medical colleges at Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot, the state government has fixed Rs4.44 lakh as full course tuition fee this year. While the tuition fee for government quota seats in private medical colleges is Rs13.43 lakh, the fee for management seats in these private colleges is Rs40.29 lakh.

As per the shifting orders, all 101 MBBS students have to pay just Rs26,250 per year in government as well as private colleges.

Dr Sandeep Puri, Principal, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), Ludhiana, said admitting the shifted students at this “meagre” fee was impracticable.

The students admitted under government quota and management quota in DMCH in 2014 are paying Rs2.2 lakh and Rs6.6 lakh per annum as tuition fee, respectively.

“Now providing education to the shifted students at just Rs26,250 per annum is not justified,” said a functionary in the management of DMCH.

Dr Raj Bahadur, Vice Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, said the modalities about the fee structure of the students to be shifted were yet to be discussed.

“For the time being, we are waiting for the approval from the Union Ministry of Health and Medical Council of India about shifting these students as per the HC orders,” he added.