Healthcare Reforms Doctors Association (HRDA), Telangana along with a few postgraduate (PG) students, had filed a case in the Telangana High Court regarding the private medical fee hike. As per a GO (Government Order) passed by the Government of Telangana's Health, Medical and Family Welfare Department on July 28, 2023, the fee for a clinical degree/diploma under A Category is Rs 7,50,000.
Giving more details on this, the former president and current advisor of the Telangana Junior Doctors' Association (TJUDA) Karthik Nagula said, "Initially, the fee being charged was 3.5 lakh. Later with the GO, the fee was hiked to 7.5 lakh." Challenging this, a case was heard in the high court today, August 17, and the court has ordered an interim stay, he added.
"Further, the court allowed students under the A category to pay 60% of the fee and under the B category to pay 70% fee," he said.
Announcing the court's stay, HRDA President Mahesh Kumar K said, "HRDA legal guidance helped PG aspirants to get an interim order for the 2023-25 block period exorbitant fee hike."
Disclosing further details, the president said, "Interim stay is granted by Justice Sumalatha where she directed colleges to collect 60% of the fee from A category students and 70% of the fee from B category students. Hat-trick blows to private medical colleges and Government of Telangana."
Meanwhile, trying to analyse the reasons behind the fee hike, Karthik shared, "There has been no clarity whether the Telangana Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (TAFRC) was consulted before announcing the fee hike."
The court's judgement copy is awaited.
