Tribune News Service
Faridkot, October 31
In a dispute over the fixation of tuition fee, the fate of 24 MD/MS courses students of Adesh Medical University is hanging in balance for the past four months. Pending a row over the ‘arrears’ of about Rs 30 lakh tuition fee per student, these medical students are waiting for the conduct of their final exams, due in May-June 2021, after completion of their three-year course.
All counterparts of the 24 students in six other medical colleges in the state have already got their degrees after taking their final exam in July this year and most of them have joined on the posts of senior resident.
The controversy over the tuition fee of these MD/MS students of Adesh university started in 2018 at the time of their admission. Against the state government’s fixed tuition fee of Rs 19.50 lakh for the MD/MS (clinical) full courses in 2018 for all medical institutes in the state, the university had fixed its own fee at Rs 49.32 lakh. The university had challenged the state government-fixed tuition fee in the High Court. Pending the decision on the fee structure for the past about three years, the students of Adesh university have paid Rs 19.50 lakh as tuition fee.
The students alleged pending the decision on the fee structure, the university wants the students to pay ‘arrears ‘of Rs 29.81 lakh. The university wants to conduct the final exam of the students only after getting the full fee. “It promises to return the Rs 29.81 lakh fee if the High Court decision comes against the university,” said a student.
Col Jagdev Singh (retd), registrar of the university, claimed ignorance about the issue. Kulwant Singh, deputy registrar, denied that students were being pressurised to pay the fee. “The matter is sub judice, we cannot demand any fee from the students,” he said. About the delay in conduct the exams at the university, Kulwant Singh said it was due to Covid-19. “As there was delay in new admissions in the MD/MS courses, there is delay in exams for the outgoing batch too.
We are in process of conducting these,” he said.
Dispute over tuition charges, 24 students await final exams
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