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Believe it or not, the MBBS seats in the private medical colleges in Andhra Pradesh under management quota were sold out at a very high premium, ranging from Rs.50 lakh to Rs.70 lakh for the five-year course this year.

And in a few instances involving NRI students, the price of the MBBS seat went up to even Rs.1 crore.

The high premium for the MBBS seats came to the notice of governor E S L Narasimhan, who held a meeting with minister for medical education Kondru Murali and officials of the department a couple of days ago and ordered them to see that the colleges fill up the management quota seats only through online method as per the merit under the supervision of the government to prevent sale of seats.

There are 40 medical colleges in the state including 14 being managed by the state government and the remaining 26 are private colleges, including three newly sanctioned colleges this year. The total number of seats is 5,600, which includes 3,350 seats in the private colleges.

There are three categories of seats in the private medical colleges: 50 per cent of seats (category-A) and 10 per cent of seats (category-B) are filled on the basis of results of the state-run Engineering, Medical and Agriculture Common Entrance Test (EAMCET), for a fee of Rs.60,000 and Rs.2,40,000 per annum respectively. The remaining 40 per cent of the seats under Category-C are under the management quota and at the sole discretion of the college managements, though they are supposed to follow the merit based on the marks secured by the students in their Intermediate exam.

As per the government order (GO No. 136), the managements have to collect a fee of Rs. 5.5 lakh per annum under this category in four instalments, as prescribed by the Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee constituted by the government.

It is in this Category-C that the private college managements make big money. The cost of the MBBS seat for the five-year course, which was around Rs.30 lakh a couple of years ago, has now gone up to Rs.50 lakh to Rs.70 lakh; and in some cases even up to Rs.1 crore in the name of NRI quota. However, except to the extent of fee prescribed by the government, the remaining amount is collected in black, sources said.

The medical education minister said the sale of management quota seats for high premium was a serious issue and the government would definitely interfere in the matter. "The Governor suggested that there should not be any auctioning of management quota seats, which should also be filled up through online system as per the merit. We will discuss the issue with Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and come to a decision," Murali said.

Ironically, the private medical colleges already filled up the management quota seats by collecting hefty fee. "As per the procedure, we have notified the seats through newspaper advertisements, called for applications under the management quota and completed the admission process. We are in the process of sending the admission list to the NTR University of Health Sciences for approval. At this stage, if the government wants to make the changes in the name of online admissions, we cannot start the process all over again," says Ch Laxman Rao, secretary of the Consortium of Private Medical College Managements Association.

Representatives of the managements had a meeting in Hyderabad on Friday to discuss the latest order from the Governor and its repercussions. They have decided to make a representation to the Governor to convince him that it is not possible to implement the order for this year at least.

Rao denied the reports that the private medical colleges had collected huge sums under the management quota. "Where is the proof? If we collect Rs.60 lakh or Rs.80 lakh per seat, we should be flying in helicopters," he said.

He, however, admitted that the private medical colleges would not sustain if they collect only Rs.5.5 lakh per seat per annum under the management quota, but refused to disclose how much they are actually charging. There might be some colleges in big cities like Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam which might be collecting hefty fee under the management quota, but those in the towns like Karimnagar and Khammam, there would be no takers for management seats for high premium, says Laxman Rao, who runs a private medical college in Karimnagar.

"One should remember that it requires huge infrastructure for the college and also an associated teaching hospital. Besides, we have to pay huge salaries to the faculty and also doctors at the hospital. We are not supposed to charge any fee from patients in our hospitals, unlike the corporate hospitals. Therefore, the private colleges are compelled to collect more fees under the management quota to sustain themselves," Rao said.

He said as per the Supreme Court order, the government cannot interfere in the filling up of the management quota, but can only monitor the facilities available to the students in the colleges. "We are in fact, cross-subsidising the MBBS students admitted under the 60 per cent non-management categories. If the government wants to interfere in the management quota, too, we have no objection to it, provided if it fixes a uniform fee of Rs.3 lakh per annum for all the 100 per cent seats," he said.

An official in the NTR University of Health Sciences on condition of anonymity said the practice of collecting "donations" by the private medical colleges for management quota seats has been going on for the last six to seven years and the amount was on the rise every year. "But since there are takers for the seats, there has been no complaint from anyone. We can take action only when there is a complaint from the parents or students," he added.