The Pondicherry State Students and Parents Welfare Association has urged the chairman of the fee committee to ensure release of the stipulated share of seats by private medical colleges to the CENTAC government quota.
In a memorandum, association president V. Bala Balasubramanian appealed to the panel to protect the interests of the student community as some institutions had reportedly stated categorically to the government that they would not provide seats to the government quota for PG courses from 2024-25.
Pointing out that unlike other States where private medical colleges offer between 50% to 65% of seats to the State pool, institutions in Puducherry have been releasing only about 35% seats to government quota, which is far fewer than the obligated 50% seat share.
The Association also called for stringent monitoring to ensure that the fees charged by private institutions are in parity with those in government medical colleges and to defer any hike in the fee structure until the private colleges address student complaints about levy of excess fees.
In fact, following complaints that some of the colleges were even siphoning off student stipends, the government had issued an order on student stipends, the association said. The government must initiate an investigation into whether this order was being followed and proxys forms of capitation fee was being taken from students, it added.
The Association reiterated the demand for a grievance helpline for students to instantly raise such complaints with authorities.
