After 58 days of protest, the students of Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital, Cuddalore, had much to rejoice after the Government issued an order to charge the students the same fees as government medical colleges. The students, almost 1300 of them, had been parked outside the administrative building of the college for the last 58 days demanding that since they had been acquired by the government, they should be charged the same fees as one.
On Thursday, the Tamil Nadu government issued a GO that stated it would be reducing the fees for RMMCH, Dental College and the Rani Meyyammai College of Nursing and that it shall be the same as that of prevailing fee structure at existing government medical, dental and nursing colleges. According to the new GO, for MBBS, the tuition fee will now be Rs 4000, university fee would be 6060 rupees, along with other additional charges, totaling Rs 13,610. For BDS, the tuition fee will now be Rs 2000 and the total amount is Rs 11,610. For postgraduate courses — MD, MS and MDS, the tuition fees is now Rs 30,000 and post graduate diploma the tuition fees is Rs 20,000. For BSc (Nursing), Bachelor of Physiotherapy and Bachelor of Occupational Therapy the tuition fee is now Rs 3000.
But this will not be applicable for fees paid in the past. “The fee structure will be given prospective effect from the date of taking over the said college as government institutions. The earlier existing fees prior to taking over, already paid by the students will not be refunded or adjusted against future payments. The benefit of government fee structure as fixed from time to time will be extended to currently studying and forthcoming students,” the notice said.
The changes in administration are expected to be immediate. “The Director of Medical Education is also directed to take immediate steps to take over the properties and liabilities of the said colleges ‘as it is where it is’ basis and send a detailed proposal for the same. The Director of Medical Education is further directed to take affiliation process for bringing the said institutions under the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai immediately,” the GO directed.
The students said they were thankful to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for supporting their cause, “It is joyful moment for the students now that 58 days of protests will be coming to end and only after we were able to achieve all our demands,” they said. Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar also thanked the Chief Minister for approving the restructured fees and issuing orders in the interest of the students.
The students had spent the last 58 days demanding that their college charge the same fees as a government college because it had been named a government college in 2013. Despite this, they were being charged 30 times the fees of a student studying at a government college. Students had also complained that their fees had been hiked every year, so much so that they were paying more than self-financed colleges too. After a fruitless protest in 2017, the students launched a new protest last month. The College, affiliated then to Annamalai University, shut down the campus and hostels, forcing students to cook outside on their own. Finally, the government issued an order stating that the college would be removed from the Higher Education Department and put under the Health and Family Welfare Department. However, the students had refused to call off the protest until the fees were reduced as well.
