High fees force med students to change course

MUMBAI: This year''s medical admissions mess will leave an ugly scar on the careers of several students.
Unable to pay the high fees for the MBBS course in private medical colleges, a number of deserving students have been forced to opt for admissions in physiotherapy, dental and ayurveda courses in government colleges.
For instance, Poonam Sanghai, 18, who is ranked 1,091 in the state common entrance test (CET) merit list, got admission to the MBBS course at K.J.Somaiya Medical College, Sion.
However, unable to fork out the proposed annual fees of Rs 3.9 lakhs, she opted for the dental course at St. George''s Hospital, a government college.
"The fees for the dental course in a private college is over Rs 2 lakh. At St. George''s, we have to pay annual fees of Rs 15,000 only," said her father, Subhash Sanghai, a police inspector.
Ms Sanghai, though disappointed by the turn of events, said the loss was not entirely hers alone. "The government has lost a deserving student and a promising doctor," she stated.
Mayank Dharot was ranked 1,700 in the CET merit list and got admission to MBBS courses at two private colleges, K.J. Somaiya and MGM medical college. However, he had to opt out because of the exorbitant fees.
Unable to secure an MBBS seat in a government college, he then got admission to the physiotherapy course at the Sion hospital medical college.
But the 18-year-old Dharot refuses to settle for a lesser choice like physiotherapy, and will cancel his admission at Sion and reappear for the CET next year. "What was the point of delaying the admissions for over three months when we are back to square one now?" he asked agitatedly.
Till last year, private colleges were permitted a 15 per cent management quota, with annual fees being Rs 1.5 lakhs. The remaining 85 per cent of students paid annual fees of Rs 24,000 each, while those in government colleges paid Rs 18,000.
However, in October 2002, the supreme court struck down the management quota and permitted private colleges to fix their own fees. Private colleges then hiked their annual fees from Rs 3.15 lakhs to Rs 3.9 lakhs.
After large-scale protests from students regarding the exorbitant fees, the Bombay high court in August directed that students could secure admission by paying 60 per cent of the proposed fees.
Later, the government and private colleges worked out an agreement whereby the annual fees were reduced to Rs 1.5 lakhs provided a management quota was permitted.
This agreement, however, is still to be approved by the apex court. Therefore, the state has decided to go ahead with admissions, asking students to pay fees ranging from Rs 3.15 lakhs to Rs 3.9 lakhs, as originally proposed by private colleges.
"The government''s inability to handle the crisis has played havoc with my son''s career," said Jayant Rajadhyaksha, whose 1,810-ranked son, Omkar, has had to settle for a physiotherapy course at B.Y.L. Nair college, Mumbai Central.