Context

• The National Medical Commission (NMC) has released draft guidelines for medical colleges in the public domain. 

Draft Guidelines

• Broad guidelines have been given by NMC for the determination of fees and other charges  for MBBS and PG courses in respect private medical colleges and deemed universities are as follows:

1. i)   No institution should charge Capitation fees in any form.
2. ii)  The principle of education that is not-for-profit should be strictly adhered to.

iii) The operating cost should primarily form the basis for the determination of fees for medical education.

1. iv) The fees can be fixed for a block of three years or on a year-to-year basis and should remain the same for the entire duration of study, subject to inflation adjustment.
2. v) Fees in newly established colleges should be decided on an adhoc- basis based on a fee structure of recently established colleges by the state whose audited sheets are available.
3. vi) All hospital expenses should not be included in computing the cost for providing medical education.

vii) The amount of security deposits should not be considered for calculating fees and interest on deposits may be deducted from operating cost.

Need for Reforms 

• As of now, there are lot of variations in terms of charging fees among various states and medical education is becoming unaffordable for majority of the students due to 2 reasons:

1. There are limited seats in Government colleges
2. An Exorbitant amount of fees are charged in private medical colleges and deemed universities.

• Around 28% of MBBS  seats cost more than 10 lakhs per annum in private medical colleges and deemed universities which includes only tuition fees.
• Deemed universities cover around 10% of MBBS seats which is over 8500 seats which are the most expensive seats and only 3% can afford education in these universities.
• Further, management and NRI quota adds up the disparity among the private as well as government medical colleges.
• Thus, it leads to a virtual kind of reservation and division among the rich and poor which needs to be bridged.

Conclusion

• The NMC guidelines is a visionary step towards regulating medical education and once these norms are passed, fees for 50% MBBS and postgraduate medical seats in these colleges will be regulated.

Reference:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXsEyx_u8FU&list=PLVOgwA_DiGzoqQsGjmamTu6f453RWpm_I