A lawyer on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against exorbitant fee being charged by private medical colleges with a plea to summon record of fee structure from all the private medical and dental colleges of the country. Supreme Court lawyer Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta filed a petition under Article 184(3) of Constitution and made federation through secretary Cabinet Division and Pakistan Medical & Dental Council (PM&DC) as respondents.
Bhutta alleged that medical colleges are looting the students intending to get admission in the medical colleges and for that they take shelter behind PM&DC Rules. He informed that these colleges are charging high fees under different heads, saying some colleges are using the term foreign student fee while other call it overseas student fee.
Bhutta submitted that private colleges charge fee from Rs 550,000 to Rs 1,100,000 per year per student, adding that according to Section 10 (ii) of PM&DC Rules: "No medical or dental institution training for MBBS/BDS in the private sector shall charge tuition fee more than Rs 600,000 per annum from a student."
Zulfiqar Bhutta maintained that a medical college in Peshawar has introduced new rule that if any student challenges the decision of the college regarding the fee then he/she shall be fine Rs 50,000. He said it is the worst example to stop the students from seeking remedy from the courts.
The lawyer submitted that under the PM&DC Rules, a college is allowed to give admission to 150 students in colleges in private sector, saying if one student pays Rs 600,000 per year then the college is earning Rs 90 million per year. He was of the view that charging high fee is discouraging students from low-income class to get medical education so the court should intervene for implementation of the concerned rules and regulations.
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