Rajasthan medical student submits representation on various issues to Rahul Gandhi during Bharat Jodo Yatra

Worried over the introduction of management quota seats in the government medical colleges of Rajasthan, an MBBS student took up the issue with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he was in the state for the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra movement. The doctor also submitted a representation to Gandhi and urged him to resolve the students' problems.

Ankit Roat, a pre-final year student from the Government Medical College, Jhalawar, in his representation, submitted that the management quota was posing a major problem for meritorious students of the state. "Thirty-five per cent of the seats have been made management quota seats in all the government medical colleges and their fees have been increased from Rs 5 lakh to almost Rs 8 lakh since 2019," Ankit said.

Kalyan Singh, a parent of a medical student and activist, mentioned, "Earlier there was no such quota and 85 per cent of the seats were government seats. But now, meritorious students who are eligible for the government quota seats are being asked to opt for the management quota seats as the government seats (now reduced to 35 per cent) get filled fast." "We have seen students coming out of the counselling sessions crying," added Ankit.

Another issue bugging MBBS students and parents, which Ankit pointed out in his representation, is the poor infrastructure of the medical colleges. "New roads have not been built in my college in Jhalawar since 2008. The condition of the roads and other infrastructural issues are affecting the students. And this is the case for several government medical colleges here," he said.

Students also stated that the newly constructed colleges in Rajasthan lacked proper facilities. "The government is charging so much fees, but what's the use? There aren't good drinking water facilities nor good faculty. The existing colleges should be improved first before charging high fees to build new colleges," said Yashpal Choudhary, a third-year student from Dungarpur Government Medical College, in an earlier interview with EdexLive.

This particular matter has been raised by medical students from the neighbouring state of Haryana, who are protesting against the bond policy. Yesterday, December 9, as Union Minister of Health Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted about seats in the medical colleges across India being increased, the MBBS doctors from Haryana criticised it.

"Forgot to mention that all increased seats are private or semi-private," reads a tweet from Dr Divyaraj (@drDivyarajDabhi). "Please improve qulaity of education, not quantity of medical education. The fee has tremendously increased," rejoins another tweet from Dr Karan Juneja, President of the Junior Doctors' Network of IMA (Indian Medical Association), Haryana.

"Rahul Gandhi sir has assured me that he will look into the issues," said Ankit. The students in Rajasthan had initiated protests over these issues in 2020 and 2021. A case in the Rajasthan High Court has also been filed, but any hearing has not taken place yet and date after date is being rolled by," Kalyan Singh informed.