Over 140 candidates belonging to the economically weaker section (annual family income less than Rs 8 lakh) have chosen postgraduate seats in clinical specialties from the management and NRI quotas of private medical colleges for which tuition fees alone range from Rs 25 lakh to over Rs 90 lakh per annum. This has led to many aspirants questioning how these candidates managed to get the EWS certificate if they could afford to pay over a crore for a threeyear postgraduate course. The first round of allotment of postgraduate seats in medical colleges was announced on Nov 20.
Out of more than 24,600 seats allotted in this round, 135 seats from the management quota in private medical colleges have been allotted to candidates who registered as EWS. Eight NRI seats have been allotted to EWS candidates.
For instance, an MS Orthopaedics seat in the management quota of Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical sciences in Puducherry, for which the tuition fee comes up to Rs 1.6 crore for the entire course, has been allotted to an EWS candidate. Similarly, an EWS candidate has got an MD Radiology seat from the NRI quota in Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital, Mysore. The annual fee for this seat is Rs 91 lakh, which translates to over Rs 2.7 crore for the course.
Many MBBS graduates who appeared for the NEET-PG exam claimed there was a huge increase in candidates using fake EWS certificates and demanded the govt initiate an inquiry. “It’s frustrating to see EWS candidates have taken admission in colleges that charge fees in crores. Govt must cancel their seats,” said Aman Kaushik, a NEET-PG aspirant.
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