The Hindu : Front Page : SFI moves court against fees fixed for three medical colleges

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Friday, Jul 27, 2007
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SFI moves court against fees fixed for three medical colleges

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: The Student Federation of India (SFI) has moved the Madras High Court seeking to declare the fee structure prescribed by the Statutory Committee for three private medical colleges in the State as illegal and arbitrary.

The First Bench, before which the petition filed by G. Selva, secretary of the Tamil Nadu chapter of SFI, came up for hearing on Thursday, said it would hear the matter along with other connected writ petitions on August 6.

As against the fee of Rs. 1.3 lakh last year, the Permanent Committee for Fixation of Fees in Self-Financing Professional Colleges fixed a fee ranging from Rs. 2.25 lakh to Rs. 3. lakh for the Sri Mookambigai Institute of Medical Sciences, PSG Institute of Medical Science and Research and Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute.

Verification

Describing it as exorbitant and arbitrary, as it had been fixed without any physical verification of the facilities available in the institutions, the petitioner prayed for an interim injunction restraining the colleges from collecting fees over and above Rs. 1.3 lakh from students.

Mr. Selva contended that some of these colleges had collected Rs. 4 lakh from students last year and that they were insisting on a similar payment this year. “It is impermissible. The parents have to sell their small property and personal jewellery. In that case, the right to occupation of the colleges will become more important that the right to education…” he said.

Huge escalation

The Committee had “unfortunately” not taken into account the representations of the SFI and parents with regard to fee structure revision, he said, adding, “the Committee failed to see that when it had fixed Rs. 1.3 lakh in 2004, the escalation cannot, by any stretch of imagination, be 80 per cent to 110 per cent higher than the earlier fee…”

The Committee had failed in its duty to assess the exact requirement of the respective colleges in a neutral manner, he said, adding that experts should have visited the premises and verified the records as well as the infrastructure, as laid down by the Supreme Court.

The students should have been heard, he added.

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