The fee structure of the private medical colleges will be substantially hiked soon. Some of these medical colleges are planning to have a fee structure ranging from Rs. 2 lakh to Rs. 6 lakh. The fees for management quota seats could be in the range of Rs. 8 lakh and Rs. 25 lakh. The fees, however, will vary according to the quality of the college in terms of its history, status and infrastructure.

The revised fee structure will be introduced only after a Bombay High Court judgement on June 26,which the college managements are expecting to be in their favour. "Going by the 2002 judgment of the Supreme Court and from the latest Nagpur bench hearing, private colleges are confident of getting a favorable judgment," said one of the members of the Association of Medical colleges of India.

"We are looking for charging an annual fees of Rs. 2.5 lakh in the general quota category and Rs. 8 lakh in the management quota. Ten per cent seats would be reserved for economically weaker sections of the society for which the fee structure is proposed at Rs. 40, 000," said Dr. Lalit Mehta, Principal, K.J. Somaiya Medical College, Mumbai. Going ahead, Navi Mumbai-based MGM Medical is proposing an annual fee structure of Rs. 6 lakh in the general category.

Whatever be the case, hike in fees will very much surpass the annual fee structure till last year, which was Rs. 14,900 for free seat, Rs. 1,26,000 for payment seat and management quota seats in the range of Rs. 5-6 lakh per annum. Out of the total number of seats, 25 per cent seats are reserved for management quota.

Nevertheless, plight of these private medical colleges also have to be taken into account as according to the latest Medical Council of India (MCI) statistics, it costs the college annually about Rs. 2.5 lakh in educating a student. Besides, the college also has to look into the expenses linked towards running a massive institution. "It costs Rs. 20 crore for educating 100 students at the end of four years. Rs. 4 lakh out of the proposed annual fees of Rs. 6 lakh will be spent only towards paying the fees of faculty," said Dr. Sudhir Kadam, Director, MGM Medical College. Therefore it is very much justified to charge such a high amount he said. Dr. Kadam questioned about the use of educating the student at a highly subsidized rate, when he after completing his education prefer to settle abroad. "No free lunches should be encouraged here as quality education has a price of its own," countered Dr. Kadam.

Most of the colleges were also not in favor of taking in students as per the recently held CET. "Admitting students into colleges on the basis of their HSC result is a time tested method and we would like to go with it," said Dr. Kadam.

Whatever the nitty-gritty's be, the final structure on the mode of recruitment and fee structure would be decided by the Court of law. Private medical colleges in the state are positively waiting for the Bombay High Court hearing slated on June 26.