Patna, July 4: The state health department is set to initiate action against private medical colleges who have been refusing seats to MBBS and MD/MS students under the government quota for the past several years. FIRs can also be lodged against such private institutions.
Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said the government was in no mood to “spare” the medical colleges which have become “exploitive and monopolistic” in nature.
Talking to The Telegraph, Choubey said: “Private medical colleges in the state, especially Katihar Medical College and Mata Gujri Medical College, Kishanganj, have been denying admission to students qualifying for undergraduate and postgraduate seats through the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination (BCECE) for undergraduate medical course and BCECE-PGMAT for postgraduate diploma and degree courses. I have got complaints against these colleges and have asked officials to take harsh action against them. I have even asked the officials concerned to lodge FIRs against these colleges.”
Authorities in the medical colleges could not be contacted for comment.
A source in the health department said: “Medical colleges at Katihar and Kishanganj have 60 seats each while Narayan Medical College, Sasaram, has 50 seats. According to the norms, they should fill 50 per cent of the seats through government quota even as they charge their own fee-structure from students, as these are self-financed institutions. However, these colleges often deny admission to students who go there after qualifying in state pre-medical entrance examinations for postgraduate seats.”
Choubey also said a committee would be formed to regulate the fee charged by these medical institutions as the government has not been able to execute the Supreme Court guideline on forming a fee-fixation committee and implementing its recommendations.
A senior doctor at Patna Medical College and Hospital said: “Private medical colleges here charge double the fee of most other medical colleges in the country. The institutions in Bihar charge Rs 4 lakh-5 lakh as tuition fee. When the official fee structure is doubled, naturally the amount charged as capitation fee is very high, too, which ranges between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh.”