Assam: Health Minister Defends MBBS Fee Hike, Cites Lower Costs Than Private Colleges
Published on
:
Guwahati: The Health Minister Ashok Singhal today, defended the state government’s decision to increase MBBS course fees, saying the revised rates remained significantly lower than those charged by private medical institutions. Singhal said private institutions could charge around Rs 40 lakh for medical education, while the increase introduced by the state government was comparatively modest.
Under the revised fee structure, students from families earning more than Rs 9 lakh annually will pay Rs 1 lakh a year. Those with an annual family income of Rs 4 lakh to Rs 9 lakh will pay Rs 50,000, while students from families earning below Rs 4 lakh will pay Rs 5,000 annually.
Singhal said the fee structure was designed to link payments to family income, with lower fees for economically disadvantaged students.
Separately, the minister highlighted the government’s efforts to make specialised healthcare more affordable. He said around 33 to 34 kidney transplants were performed in Assam last year, costing between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 3 lakh each, with expenses covered under the Pradhan Mantri Arogya Nidhi and Mukhya Mantri Arogya Nidhi schemes.
He also said more than 30 new dialysis centres had opened across the state in the past three months, expanding access to treatment for patients with kidney-related ailments.