Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party in Gujarat have hit out at the BJP Government in Gujarat for massively increasing fees in 13 medical colleges in the state under the Government Medical Education and Research Society. The Congress has given a week’s ultimatum to withdraw the fee hike, failing which its National Students’ Union of India will launch an agitation.
Gujarat Congress president Shaktisinh Gohil told media persons on July 8 that fees for the undergraduate medical courses in 13 colleges have been increased by up to 88 per cent. Observing that even the poor should be able to dream of becoming a doctor, Gohil demanded that the fee hike be rolled back with immediate effect. He said that the NSUI will launch an agitation on Gandhian lines if the state government failed to roll back the hike.
The Congress leaders showed a Government Resolution dated June 28, 2024, that mentioned about the fee hike.
Gohil said that in the government quota, the fee has been hiked from Rs 3.30 lakh per year to Rs 5.50 lakh and in the management quota from Rs 9 lakh per year to Rs 17 lakh. In the NRI quota, the fees have been increased from US $ 22,000 to US $ 25,000 per year.
The Congress leader, who is also Rajya Sabha MP, said that becoming a doctor should be driven by a sense of service to society rather than financial barriers. He emphasized that access to medical education should be equitable, especially for economically disadvantaged students.
Taking a dig at the ruling BJP government, Gohil said that the last government medical college in Gujarat was established during the Congress regime in 1994-95.
The AAP has submitted memoranda to the district collectors demanding rolling back the fee hike.
When discussing the NEET paper leak case, Gohil reportedly claimed that there is an affidavit from the DYSP of Godhra presented in court detailing how people were involved in a scam. The school where the scam took place is directly linked to the BJP. There are photos of the school associated with BJP leaders, the chief minister, and former Union Minister Smriti Irani.
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