The Karnataka government is planning to increase the fees for undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the government medical colleges. Speaking at the Legislative Council on Tuesday, medical education minister D K Shivakumar said the annual tuition fee for MBBS course will be hiked from Rs 17,000 to Rs 50,000 and for MD programmes from Rs 50,000 to Rs 3 lakh.
The move, the minister hopes, will help the colleges to be financially viable. The government also plans to introduce NRI quotas in government medical colleges, which were thus far open only for meritorious students.
Answering questions from S V Sankanur of the BJP during question hour, the minister sought the cooperation of all parties to make it viable even as students associations and political wings protested against the announcement.
He also said in the Council that his department has sought additional grants from the Finance Department for implementing the National Pension Scheme for college employees recruited after 2006.