The Telangana High Court, on Friday, found the state government guilty for permitting private medical colleges to collect tuition fees from students against five years while the duration of the study is four-and-a-half years as provided by the Medical Council of India Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997.
Telangana High Court
A division bench comprising Justice M.S. Ramachandra Rao and Justice K. Lakshman observed that the action of the government in accepting the recommendation of the Telangana Admissions and Fee Regulatory Commission (TAFRC) in this regard was arbitrary and illegal.
It said the private colleges should collect a year-wise fee for four years. For the remaining six-month period, a half-yearly fee should be collected. The bench said, “It was unfortunate that rules framed by the higher education wing did not provide an opportunity either to students or parents’ association before TAFRC decides upon the contentions of private medical colleges’ association.”
The principal secretary, medical, had issued GO No. 120 in 2017 enabling the collection of the annual tuition fee prescribed for five academic years which was challenged before the High Court in 2018 by a petitioner.
After going through the rules and proceedings, the bench stated that it was very unfortunate on the part of the TAFRC, whose primary duty it is to protect the interests of students and also to ensure that they are not overcharged by the private unaided professional institutions. It said, “Neither the state government nor TAFRC seems to be bothered about this serious omission in the rules.”
Thus, the bench declared the collection of fees for an extra half-a-year as baffling being illegal.
Spurning the government contention that the colleges have to conduct extra classes for failed students and those who were short of attendance, the bench said, “It appeared that the government harboured the assumption that all students who get admission to the MBBS course were likely to fail and would require an additional six months of study.”
The bench further added, “Such exceptions cannot be generalised and it is unfair to ask all the students to bear the burden.”
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