18 July,2016 11:20 AM IST | | Rupsa Chakraborty
KEM has sent notices to 60 students from socially backward classes to pay up their tuition fee; authorities claim none of the students are poor as they get monthly stipend of Rs 50,000
Just months after Sudhir Mehra (name changed), a postgraduate pursuing a specialisation course at King Edward Memorial Hospital and Seth Gordhandas Sunderdas Medical College, lost his father in February, another catastrophe threatens to sink his career.
The KEM recently issued the notice to 60 students, out of which 30 have paid their tuition fees. File Pic
Mehra recently received a notice from the college asking him to clear tuition fee amounting to Rs 1,08,800 for the bygone academic year. The notice reads: "If you fail to make the payment of outstanding fee before your final examination of summer 2016 (to be held next month), your final result will be withheld by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences. This office will not be held responsible for any delay in the declaration of your exam results."
But Mehra, who belongs to one of the socially backward class, is eligible for a freeship as per the Centre's policy being followed across the country since 1945. Haunted by the thoughts of not being able to fulfil his father's last wish, Mehra is leaving no stone unturned to collect the said amount. Likewise, KEM has issued notices to 60 students to pay their respective tuition fees.
One of the students from pathology department who received a similar notice said, "I belong to a family of farmers. We don't have that much money to pay the tuition fee. Last year too a similar incident occurred, but the college dropped the demand after students protested. While other colleges have informed their students verbally, only KEM issued such notices."
Living in fear
Speaking to mid-day, Dr Sagar Mundada, president of Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), said, "Afraid of the consequences, about 30 students somehow managed to pay their fees. But the rest can't do it and are constantly reeling under the fear of losing out on a academic year."
He added that the organisation has filed a PIL in the Bombay High Court, requesting it to safeguard poor students against such malpractices. "Despite requesting the college authorities to wait until the verdict is out, they appear to be least interested in paying heed to our pleas," Mundada said.
The other side
Justifying the recovery of tuition fees from the postgraduates, Dr Pravin Shingare, chief of Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER), said they pay a stipend of R50,000 every month to the students. This automatically makes them ineligible to claim the benefits.
"If a person's income crosses R4 lakh, then he/she can't enjoy the benefits. We spend R35 lakh on students annually. Despite providing them all the facilities, they want more. Also, all the students falling in the age group of 24 to 26 are not considered as dependents on their parents," Shingare added.
Rebuttal
Countering this claim, Mundada said, "The money that we get as stipend is given for serving in hospitals. But the rules state that students from socially backward classes are eligible for a freeship, which is followed across India. There is no connection between the stipend and the freeship. Moreover, several students send a large chunk of their stipend back home to their poor parents."
