Lack of clarity on fee structure delays Medical PG counseling in Andhra Pradesh

Lack of clarity on fee structure delays Medical PG counselling in Andhra Pradesh

Lack of clarity on fee structure for medical Post Graduate courses has become a major issue of contention delaying the counseling for admissions to various PG courses across the state.

Last year, the counseling for Medical PG courses had already completed in April and classes were started by June, but this year, the admissions for Medical PG courses in the state have been delayed on account of various reasons. Initially, if it was the paper leakage scam and conduction of re-exam that hit the admission process, now the lack of clarity in the fee structure and issues of state bifurcation have become the major issues that have hindered the Medical PG admission in Andhra Pradesh.

  

Even as one month has passed after the results for the PG Medical entrance admission tests are out, the NTR university authorities are unable to finalise dates for Medical PG counseling in the state. 

Though earlier the NTR health university had issued notification for counseling for Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) courses from 26 to 27 May 2014 for the first phase and 30th may 2014 for the second phase of counseling, the university authorities have postponed the counseling for unknown reasons. 

According to sources, the major reason for delaying the Medical PG counseling is that lack of clarity in the fee structures. Earlier the state government had appointed admission and fee regulatory committee (AFRC) to set uniform fee structure for PG courses as against the earlier practice of different fees for different categories of students. 

In view of this, the AFRC had recommended a fee hike for meritorious students resulting in common fees for both merit and management quota students. Further the Committee has also proposed to include its recommendation in the 10 schedule of the AP reorganization bill for its continuation in both the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, so that legal tangles are avoided in future. 

The 10 schedule has currently listed about 42 bodies in the combined states, in which status quo will be maintained even after bifurcation. However, the continuation of AFRC has been sought only for one year. This is following the AFRC recommending a fee hike for medical and dental courses. 

The regulatory body had recommended a steep hike to Rs.3 to 3.75 lakh from 60,000 for merit students, putting them on par with management quota students. The report was sent by AFRC to the Governor a fortnight ago but no final decision has been taken yet. 

Government sources say that a final call on the revision of fee will be taken by the two respective new governments both in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, till then the counseling for Medical PG will be put on hold.