TRIVANDRUM, 7 August 2004 — The Cooperative Medical College in Cochin has decided to levy heavy fees on students admitted under NRI quota.
The dependent of an NRI has to pay 1.5 million rupees to the “development fund” and an annual tuition fee of 300,000 rupees for the five-year MBBS course in the so-called self-financing college run by the state-owned Cooperative Academy of Professional Education (CAPE). Those availing themselves of the NRI quota will end up paying 2.735 million rupees more than regular students.
The fee structure, which is a clear violation of a recent Supreme Court order, applies to all 15 percent students admitted under NRI quota.
There will also be other fees fixed by the college and the university to which it is affiliated, CAPE joint-director George Philip said.
“There is a provision for NRI quota and higher fees in the bill adopted by the state legislative assembly. We are just following that,” he said.
However, Higher Education Principal Secretary K. Mohandas and Health Secretary K. Ramamoorthy said the government had not taken any such decision. “We have not issued any order. Our position is that every college will collect only the fee fixed by Justice K.T. Thomas Committee,” said Mohandas.
